


Ha, that must suck

by tyranstuff123



Category: SEVENTEEN - Fandom
Genre: Angst?, College AU, JunHao - Freeform, M/M, MOSTLY Junhao And Meanie, Mates Gyuhao but not really?, Mutual Pining, Soonhoon - Freeform, Superatural Au, Tension, Werewolf Minghao, jeongcheol - Freeform, maybe hopefully angst idk, meanie, vampire jun, yeah there’s barely any jeongcheol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-05-20 16:35:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14898113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tyranstuff123/pseuds/tyranstuff123
Summary: “Ha, that must suck.” Was what Jun had said when Minghao had talked (more like complained) to him about the whole mating system. Jun was not destined to be with someone. He could be with anyone. Especially with his dumbass beautiful face.





	1. Partners

**Author's Note:**

> FOR CONVENIENCE SAKE
> 
> All of seventeen are born in the same year.

* * *

**Thursday**

 

Minghao met his mate during college at Pledis University. He’s never seen the guy before, even though his mate would be someone who’s hard to miss, since his mate was literally a walking tree. Jihoon had said, “I don’t like him”, but Minghao suspected it was because of Mingyu’s height. Yeah- Mingyu was his mate.

Which sucked because he was in love with Wen Junhui- who wasn’t. Even. A. Werewolf. _Godammit_.

Wen Junhui, freaking _Jun_ , was the only vampire attending Pledis University, and one of the last few vampires to actually exist on the planet. Oh yeah, he was also the guy Minghao met and developed a crush on in a year, but Jun was dumb and cute and probably straight, so yeah, Minghao’s crush was unrequited.

The _idea_ of mates had always seemed absurd to him because he was expected to spend the rest of his life with someone you just met. And it’s not love that mates feel- it’s lust.

 “Ha, that must suck.” Was what Jun had said when Minghao had talked (more like complained) to him about the whole mating system. Jun was not destined to be with someone. He could be with anyone. Especially with his dumbass beautiful face.

Mingyu was Minghao’s partner, which was how they met. At Pledis University, every student got a partner- kind of like a forced friend. Partners were there for reference if anyone needed help of any sorts, and there was a mandatory meet up for every partner once a week. Supposedly, this partner system was so that no student was completely alone.

What rotten luck that Minghao’s partner was his mate.

He stood in the auditorium (which was where partners met up for the first time) in front of the towering sky scraper that was Kim Mingyu. Neither werewolves talked to one another. They didn't have to- they were mates. As of now, they were just getting used to each other's presence.

Both werewolves knew they were bonded. It was something Minghao had often thought about. _How was he supposed to know when he had met his mate?_  But he _knew._  It was a feeling that washed over him, like discovering a new color he couldn't have imagined existed.Mingyu had a warm, sweet sort of scent. There was an aura around the other boy- the other _werewolf -_ that appealed to him. Boys did not have scents or auras- supernatural beings did. Jun’s scent was like winter air- not that it had to do with anything.

Jun appeared next to Minghao, his partner, a girl called Moonbyul, was off talking to Solar, whom Minghao had met on his first day there.

Jun was the type of person that liked physical contact, so he bounded towards Minghao and hugged his arm, “Hey, Hao!” He greeted brightly. Jun was bright for a vampire.

Mingyu growled, a low, almost inaudible sound, at the contact. Minghao scowled back.

 “You’re scent is on him.” Mingyu said, his remark directed at Jun.

Jun curled his lips, “Jealous much?”

Dumb, stupid Jun. He didn’t understand how territorial a mate could get, especially an _alpha_ for that matter. “Jun.” Minghao warned, “He- He’s my mate.” The words got caught in his throat.

Minghao did not turn to look at Jun, but he felt the vampire stiffen next to him, and then release his grip on the werewolf’s hand. “Oh.” Jun said, stepping away. His absence was _very_ evident to Minghao, and he wished the vampire was back next to him. “Sorry, I guess.” The vampire apologized in a weary tone, and walked away, faster than usual.

“Alright students,” a voice said into the mic, “You’ve had ample time to spend with your partners, now it’s time to head to class. You will see you’re partners again next week, at this exact time. The meetup spot next week will be in the library. Have a great day!”

Minghao stared back warily at the male before him, not too sure if he liked his mate all that much. When Mingyu didn't say anything, he turned around and grabbed his backpack, prepared to leave. With any luck, he could walk off this day as a bad dream.

But there wasn't much luck because Mingyu reached out to take his hand.

Minghao would be lying if he said he didn’t feel _attracted_ to Mingyu. It was kind of like a pulling sensation in his chest. And Mingyu was... heck his mate was _handsome_. Mingyu was tall, muscular, and had a radiant smile that came with beautiful lips. But like Minghao had said- He felt lust, not love.

“Meet me… meet me today. At the cafe after class.” Mingyu whispered into his ear. Minghao nodded, because it was all he could do. That guy was his mate. Jesus.

Minghao turned to look for Jun, but saw him already walking out with Wonwoo. They made eye contact for a split second before Jun turned away and continued chatting with his friend.


	2. Don’t You Have A Job?

   Jun’s heart ached.

Okay- he was a vampire and technically his heart was no use because it didn’t beat or circulate blood or anything, but whatever, it still _hurt_.

Jun realized he was in love with Minghao approximately yesterday, when they were watching movies and Minghao had grabbed Jun’s hand, which he rarely ever did, and the feeling of Minghao’s hands against his was sending electric shocks up his arm.

Or maybe he realized he was in love with Minghao last week, when a girl was flirting with the werewolf and all Jun could feel was jealousy.

Okay, Jun _suspected_ he might’ve been gay the week before last week when Minghao had laughed at a joke the vampire had told the werewolf in Chinese. When the werewolf had thrown his head back laughing, exposing the bare skin on his neck, and Jun wondered what it would be like to bite it.

But that didn’t matter. The thing that hurt the most was that nothing mattered.

Even if Minghao hadn’t met Mingyu today, he would’ve met his mate eventually. Jun _couldn’t_ be with Minghao.

“Hey, you good?” Wonwoo asked him, dragging Jun out of his thoughts.

Jun knew he could trust Wonwoo. Wonwoo was also a werewolf, but the thing about Wonwoo was that his mate had died. Jun had asked Wonwoo how he knew his mate was dead, but all Wonwoo replied was that he could feel it.

“I like Minghao.” He confessed.

“That’s cool. I mean, I already knew, but hey, that’s great!” Wonwoo replied.

Jun felt his mouth go dry. Wow, he tried hiding his secret all for nothing. What scared him the most was that his best friend wasn't even the slightest bit schocked.

Jun frowned, “Wait, what do you mean you already knew? Did Minghao know?”

Wonwoo laughed, “Well, I didn’t _know_ , I just kinda suspected. But I was right. I don’t think Minghao knows. You should tell him.” He added.

“Yeah, well he met his mate today.”

“That’s… not so great.”

Jun did not turn to look at Wonwoo, nor did he respond. After a while, Wonwoo patted his back and said, “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not your fault.”

“It is my duty as your bestest and most amazing friend _(Jun scoffed at this even though he knew it was true)_ , I am obligated to make you feel better. Let’s go get fries and feed ducks. And then we can go buy some blood.”

Jun looked up at Wonwoo, “Didn’t you get a job? After school?”

Wonwoo’s eyes widened, “Oh shit, I can't believe I forgot!”

Jun laughed, but it wasn’t one of his usual laughs. But this laugh was better than nothing.

“Okay, how about this,” Wonwoo said, “I’ll bring you a blood latte from work and then we can watch horror movies. Deal?”

“The cafe you work at sells blood?” Jun asked.

Wonwoo paused, “Well, not technically, but my boss has a friend, MingMing, who’s also a vampire. The guy sometimes visits and my boss always has a bag of blood ready.”

"Wow, I haven’t seen another vampire in… ever, actually.”

"Wait, seriously?” Wonwoo asked. “Woah, that’s crazy.”

 Jun shrugged, “Yeah, I guess. Also yeah, the plan works. I’m gonna expect that latte to be extra good, though. Since you’re making it.”

Wonwoo rolled his eyes, “Yeah, whatever.”


	3. The Wolf Part of Him

Minghao stood in front of the cafe Mingyu had told him he would be at. A coffee shop called Serenity. The whole thing was painted the color of rose quartz, which hurt Minghao’s eyes to stare at for too long. Also the shop name was tacky. Maybe he was just in a bad mood.

He sighed and walked in.

The shop was mostly empty, save for the couple in the back corner of the place. Mingyu hadn’t gotten there yet.

“Hi, what can I get for you today?” The low voice was familiar to Minghao, and he looked up to find Wonwoo.

“Wonwoo? You work here?”

“Oh, hi, Minghao! Jun’s not here, by the way.”

“I, um, didn’t ask about Jun though.” Minghao replied, even though he was _just_ about to ask about Jun. But Wonwoo didn’t have to know that.

“Yeah, but you have that ‘where’s Jun?’ face.” Wonwoo replied, laughing.

“That’s a face I have?”

“Yeah. I’m good at reading people, so,” Wonwoo shrugged, “I guess I just noticed.”

“That’s kinda scary.”

Wonwoo laughed again. “So why are you here?”

“Can I not visit a friend?”

“You didn’t know I worked here!”

“Okay fine, I lied.”

“I noticed.” Wonwoo said, earning a laugh from Minghao.

Before Minghao could reply, Wonwoo said, “Oh! Are you here to meet your mate?”

 “What?”

Wonwoo smiled, “Oh, um, yeah. Jun told me you met your mate today. Did you talk to him at school today, yet?”

“No, Jun kinda left before I could get to him. I texted him saying not to wait up for me after school, though.”

“WONWOO, STOP MAKING FRIENDS WITH EVERYONE YOU MEET.” Shouted a voice from the back kitchen.

 Wonwoo laughed. “It’s a joke.” He explained, “My boss knows I’m socially awkward and hate people.”

 His boss, Seungcheol, came up next to Wonwoo and greeted Minghao. “This is my boss, Seungcheol.” Wonwoo said.

 Seungcheol smiled at Minghao, “Oh hey, I know you. You’re in my study period, and also Jihoon knows you. You’re a werewolf?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“I could tell. I’m a warlock.”

“Can you do spells?”

“Nah, I’m not legally allowed to.” Seungcheol sighed.

 Minghao felt something in his chest tug, but he ignored it. He knew why. At that moment, Mingyu entered the shop.

 Minghao waved goodbye to Seungcheol and Wonwoo, and claimed a small table at the far edge of the cafe for him and Mingyu. “Hi.” Mingyu said. Minghao hated his voice, hated his mate’s face, and hated how even though he was in love with someone else, he felt compelled to kiss the tall jerk. “I’ll order and pay, if you want.”

“Okay,” was all Minghao said. If this guy was offering to spend his money for Minghao, then of course he’d accept it, even though he would feel bad about taking advantage of him afterwards. “Iced coffee is good.”

Mingyu left to order and Minghao savored the time he was alone. He didn’t tell his parents he met his mate yet, even though he was sure they would be thrilled. He didn’t want to tell his parents.

When Mingyu came back however, Minghao spoke first. “You growled at Jun.” He said accusingly, even though it wasn’t what he had planned to say.

“Is there… something? Between you two?” Mingyu asked carefully.

 Minghao wished he could say yes. He wished he was with Jun right now and he wished Jun was his mate. Freaking Jun. “No.” Minghao said, “But he’s my friend. So don’t you dare pull that shit again.”

 Mingyu said something Minghao hadn’t expected. “I’m sorry.” A part of him wished his mate _was_  just a jerk.

“Yeah, well, you better be.” He said, and stopped glaring at his mate.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Minghao asked, “Is this a date?”

 “Yeah.”

It wasn’t that Minghao was _nervous_ around Mingyu, it wasn’t his first time dating. His first date, his first kiss, and his first _time_ had all been with a girl. And that didn’t work out because he had been in a bed with her and thought _Nope, this is not for me_. And then he had met Jun.

And then there was Mingyu, and Mingyu would be Minghao’s first time being with a guy.

When their order was ready, Minghao got up with Mingyu to get their drinks.

 

**.   .   .**

 

Mingyu felt weird. It was like all his senses had suddenly been turned on.

He ordered two coffees from an attractive barista who’s name tag said Wonwoo. Mingyu felt like he’d seen the barista before. When Wonwoo handed the two drinks to them, Mingyu thought he saw Wonwoo’s gaze linger a bit on Minghao, and he couldn’t push down the sudden surge of _jealousy_ he felt. He wasn’t even sure the jealousy was _him_. It was something about the wolf part of him that made him feel this way, that made him glare at the barista. It was almost as if he was challenging Wonwoo, who was, by the way, another alpha. The other alpha glared right back, and even growled.

 Minghao sensed the tension, and led Mingyu outside the shop where they finished their drinks.

For the record, Mingyu hated coffee, but he wanted it to go well with his newly found mate, so he decided to order the same thing as Minghao. He hoped this small act would impress his mate, but the other werewolf didn’t even spare him a single glance.

They walked side by side in the brisk autumn air, tossing their coffee cups away in a nearby trash can, before Minghao tugged them around the corner of a brick wall building.

 

**.    .    .**

 

When they turned the corner and Minghao made sure the two of them were where no one could see them, he grabbed Mingyu and kissed him. He wished it were Jun who he was kissing.


	4. Wonwoo Hated Knowing Secrets

 Wonwoo closed up the shop, prepared to head back to his shared dorm with Jun. He had the latte for Jun in one hand, which took a long time to make since he did not know how to open a blood bag and blood spilled everywhere, so he had to clean _that_ up.

When Wonwoo was watching the dynamic between Mingyu and Minghao (what? Work was boring, he needed entertainment, okay), there was something almost strained about it.

Maybe it was just the novelty of them each finding their mate that day.

 Wonwoo wouldn’t know because he would never meet his mate.

He turned the corner of the antique store, planning to take a shortcut to the dorms. The antique store had been closed for a while now, and plants were crawling up it’s red brick walls.

And then he stopped.

Two people were kissing at the corner of the antique store. Not people- werewolves. Minghao and Mingyu were intertwined, and Wonwoo didn’t stare long enough to be able to differentiate the two of them. He didn’t stare at all (because that would’ve been wierd). 

 Wonwoo’s thoughts went to Jun.

Jun would be heartbroken. Jun _is_ heartbroken.

Neither noticed Wonwoo standing there, and so he quietly turned the other way. It seemed he would not be taking the shortcut today.

 

**.   . .**

 

When Mingyu pulled away, Minghao’s eyes were glistening with tears.

Mingyu thought he had done something wrong, but it really had nothing to do with him. It was all Minghao.

It was a good kiss. And a long one.

Minghao thought that maybe it would be considered rude to think about someone else entirely when you were making out with someone that was not them. The thought made him pull Mingyu closer. But while in thought, the kiss had dragged out longer than it should’ve.

Yeah, that was Jun’s fault, and Minghao blames the vampire entirely for being in his thoughts while he was trying to kiss Mingyu.

Minghao wondered if his feelings were something he should apologize for. If he should say _Oh yeah, I’m sorry about having feelings for someone else other than you._ And the thing was, Minghao felt sorry mostly _for_ Mingyu. How would it feel for Mingyu, if Mingyu found out that his mate could never love him wholeheartedly?

“Are you okay?” Mingyu asked, cradling Minghao’s face, their bodies still pressed together.

 Minghao was not okay. He pushed Mingyu so that there was finally some space between them, and said, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

 

**.   . .**

 

 Wonwoo hated knowing secrets mostly because he could not keep secrets. On the walk back to his dorm, he had debated whether or not he should tell Jun about what he had just seen.

If Wonwoo were in Jun’s position, he would want to know.

But Wonwoo was not in Jun’s position, he was in his own position.

 Wonwoo told himself that he would not tell Jun, not today at least.

It was almost 6 when he unlocked the door to him and Jun’s shared dorm, and immediately the vampire was there. “Wonwoo!” He exclaimed, “You’re back!”

 Wonwoo was crumbling internally. “I got your latte.”

“And I got the movie started!”

They sat on the old green couch at the back of their dorm, a blanket thrown between the two of them. Wonwoo was going to crack.

The movie froze.

 Wonwoo turned to Jun and said, “I saw Minghao and Mingyu kissing.”

Jun’s smile fell. “What?”

“They came to the cafe today, only to get coffee, and then they left. When I closed up the shop I turned the corner and I saw them. I’m sorry, Jun.”

The lights were off, which served to better illuminate the movie, but Wonwoo also couldn’t see Jun’s face in the dark. Jun didn’t reply.

After a while, Wonwoo felt hands encircle his arms, and Jun buried his head in Wonwoo’s shoulder. Wonwoo put an arm around his mourning friend.

The movie continued playing, but neither of them paid any attention to it. By the time the movie was over, both boys were fast asleep.

 

.   .   .

 

Mingyu offered to go home with Minghao, and Minghao knew that usually when mates first met, desire would cause them to sleep together the very first night. Mingyu probably wanted that.

 Minghao didn’t.

So Minghao walked back to the dorms by himself. Well, not exactly his dorm. He was going to stop at Jun’s dorm first. He needed to ask the vampire about the partner meeting spot next week because he hadn’t been paying attention. Sure he could’ve waited until tomorrow or just texted Jun, but he wanted to do it the old fashioned way (and it was definitely _not_ because he missed Jun after not seeing the vampire all day). And even if it _was_  because he missed Jun, Minghao convinced himself that this counted as a friendship sort of miss. Friends missed each other.

It hurt Minghao to think that they were, and could only be, friends. And yet it was his feelings for Jun that kept Minghao from saying _yes_  when Mingyu invited him over.

 Minghao stood at Jun’s door and noticed that the sky was already dark. It was possible that the vampire was probably already asleep, but then again, the vampire rarely ever slept. He’d once barged into Minghao’s dorm at 3 a.m., at the same time also succeeding to scare his roommate awake. They’d exchanged spare keys to each other’s dorm room because “I trust you not to kill me in my sleep.” Jun had said. To which Minghao replied “I don’t really trust you, but you’re giving me your keys so I feel like I should give you mine.”

When Minghao opened the door he saw Wonwoo and Jun were fast asleep on the couch, their limbs laced together and Jun’s face buried into Wonwoo’s shoulder. Minghao bit his lip and closed the door as to not disturb them (although Jun wouldn’t have done the same, because when _he_ walked in at 3 a.m. he’d decided to play the trumpet). He felt a strange sense of sadness inside himself knowing that him and Jun could never be anything more than friends. But the way Jun and Wonwoo were together on the couch… If they loved each other, if they were _together_ , Minghao couldn’t get in the way of that. Even if Minghao wasn’t already mated with Mingyu, Wonwoo was everything Jun deserved.


	5. To Be Destined with Someone

**Friday**

 

 Soonyoung bounded up to Jihoon who he found at the corner table of the library. “Did you hear Mingyu got mated?”

 Jihoon nodded, not taking his attention away from his notebook, “Yeah, but I heard it from Minghao.” Jihoon suddenly looked up and smiled a kind of evil smile. “Minghao’s _pissed_.”

“What? Why?” Soonyoung asked.

“He hates the whole mating system.”

Soonyoung frowned. Being human, he didn’t know much about supernatural things. “But isn’t it super cool? To be destined to be with someone?” Soonyoung asked, innocence laced in his voice.

 Jihoon sighed and finally looked up at the boy next to him. Soonyoung watched Jihoon, watched his eyes flick up to his. One of Jihoon’s eyes was an ordinary brown color, the other was icy blue- the mark of Faerie. “It’s not that easy. I’m a fae,” Jihoon rarely acknowledged this, “So I know emotions better.”

“But you don’t feel them.” Soonyoung joked, earning a smack in the head from the shorter fae.

“Love and lust… they’re different. Mates don’t often feel love at first. Eventually they do, but…”

“And what if they don’t?” Soonyoung asked.

Jihoon shrugged, “I don’t know. I’m not a werewolf.”

“Have you ever been in love?” Soonyoung asked, staring intensely at Jihoon.

The fae boy did not acknowledge the fluttering in his chest that was caused by the boy next to him, and _hoped_ his cheeks weren’t silver (fae blushed silver). “No, that’s dumb.” And turned back to composing in his notebook.

 

**.   . .**

         

The next day at school was fairly normal. All Jun had to do was pretend everything was okay today, and then tomorrow was Saturday so he could sulk freely in his room all day.

That sounded like a solid plan, until someone smacked his arm. He turned to find Minghao smiling at him, with the absence of his mate.

“Where’s Mingyu?” Jun asked the Chinese werewolf in front of him.

“I don’t know and I don’t care.” Replied Minghao.

“Well I’m offended,” came a new voice.

Minghao immediately scowled, turned to Jun and said “這個混蛋 ( _this asshole_ ).”

Did it make Jun happier to hear that Minghao was calling his mate an asshole? Yes, it did a lot. But it didn’t change much when Mingyu wrapped his arms around Minghao. “What did you say?” Mingyu asked.

Minghao elbowed Mingyu in the stomach, and the alpha male let go.

Someone chuckled behind them. Wonwoo came up and said, “Hao, you’re amazing.”

Mingyu’s eyes widened when he saw Wonwoo. “Hey,” he said, “you’re the barista from yesterday.”

 Wonwoo stared warily back at Mingyu. “Yeah…”

“I’m, uh, sorry about what happened at the coffee shop… yesterday.” Mingyu said, fidgeting. It almost sounded like he was nervous.

“It’s okay. It’s how mates act, I guess.”

“That’s stereotypical.” Minghao said.

Wonwoo looked back, “Yeah, but it’s true.”

“Well we aren’t stereotypical.” Mingyu said.

Minghao frowned, confused, “What does that mean?”

Mingyu blushed “Well, last night, you wouldn’t let me…”

Jun looked pale, and Minghao coughed loudly, “Okay, that’s enough.” Wonwoo was shaking with laughter, even though he tried hard to conceal it.

Mingyu laughed, “Relax, I was just kidding.” And then turned his eyes to watch Wonwoo laugh.

Minghao moved to stand next to Jun, who still looked a little bit horrified. “你還好嗎? ( _Are you okay?_ )” Jun nodded but didn’t look at him.

Even though it comforted Jun to know that Minghao and Mingyu hadn’t officially claimed each other yet, they were going to, one day. Jun tried to act like this didn’t bother him, even though it really did make him feel sick. “Why wouldn’t I be?” He asked Minghao.

Minghao shrugged. “You look paler today.”

Jun pretended to laugh, “I’m a vampire.”

The bell for first period rang through the halls, and the four boys headed off to their classes.

 

**.   . .**

 

Mingyu’s first class was Composition, down the hall. As he left the little group he was in, he felt a presence following him. Mingyu turned to Wonwoo who was behind him. “What’s your first period?”

“Composition.” The other alpha male replied.

“Cool, me too.”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo said, “I kinda figured since we’re going the same direction and all.”

Mingyu fell into step beside Wonwoo, “Do you rap?”

“I, uh, write lyrics.” Wonwoo replied.

“But do you rap?”

“If I say yes, will you ask me to demonstrate?” Wonwoo said.

“That depends on your answer.” Mingyu smirked. He wondered why Wonwoo was avoiding his question.

“Okay,” Mingyu said, after Wonwoo refused to reply. Mingyu was pretty sure he knew the answer anyways, too. “Have you ever rapped for anyone?”

“Only Jihoon.”

“The short, scary fae?” Mingyu asked.

Wonwoo laughed, “Yeah, him.”

“Why not rap for anyone else?”

Wonwoo shrugged. “Feels wierd, I guess.”

“I rap.” Mingyu said.

“I know. I mean, it’s the first thing you asked me. It’s not like I’m stalking you or anything. So it’s just, I mean if your someone who raps, the first thing you would ask someone else is if they rap. Same thing goes for singers and dancers, you know?” Wonwoo was rambling now, and Mingyu found it almost endearing.

They sat next to each other in class, taking two seats near the back. Mingyu had already come to dislike his composition teacher. “Okay, groups of four, everybody.” The teacher had said upon everyone entering the classroom. Already on the second week of school, there was a project.

Mingyu and Wonwoo formed a group with two other students, Seungcheol and Vernon. Mingyu knew neither of them, but it seemed that Wonwoo was already pretty close with Seungcheol. “He’s my boss at the cafe.” Wonwoo explained.

The teacher started talking again, “You’re job is to compose a song by yourselves, of any genre. You can do pop, hip hop, classical, whatever. Feel free to make artistic choices. The deadline is two weeks from now, which should give you ample time to write and record. The finished product will be published on the Pledis website for all students.”

There was an audible groan throughout the classroom. _Oh great_ Mingyu thought.

 

**.   . .**

 

Third period rolled around, and Minghao had dance. Along with Jun.

“Hello everybody!” Smiled Soonyoung. Even though the boy was the same age as all of them, Soonyoung had already gotten promoted to TA with his skills. Not to mention he could also choreograph dances.

“Dance showcase is December this year, so time to work hard!”

Jun groaned next to Minghao.

Minghao leaned in to whisper to Jun, “Come by my place after school?”

Jun nodded.


	6. Hey

* * *

    Jun met Minghao outside the Pledis gates after school had ended. It took Minghao a little while to get there, since his last period was Statistics, which took place all the way across the school. When he saw Jun he said, “Hey.”, sounding almost out of breath. Jun wondered if he had run on the way there.

    “Hey.” Jun replied. Minghao frowned and Jun cursed himself. _Act normal_ . But he was already screwing up because usually Jun would light up and say _Hey, Hao!_ Would it make Mingyu jealous if Jun had called Minghao by his nickname? Jun didn’t want to know, and _he did not care_.

    They started walking towards the dorms together, making small talk. It was a bunch of _“How was your day? Good? Mine too. Cool…”_ Neither acknowledged the tension between them.

    It was cold that day, because Autumn was an indecisive season. It could be sweltering hot and freezing cold in the same day. Jun didn’t realize just how cold he was until Minghao slipped his warm hand into Jun’s.

    Jun immediately pulled his hand away. _So much for acting normal_.

    The action hurt Minghao.

    Usually it would be Jun holding Minghao’s hand, and even though the werewolf always complained about how touchy the vampire was, he had never pulled away.

    Minghao took a step away from Jun, and they were now walking with a huge gap in between them. Neither boy said anything.

    “My dorm or yours?” Jun asked, after a moment of silence.

    “Mine.” Minghao said. “Your dorm is crappy and reeks of sadness.”

    “HEY!” Jun said, laughing.

    Minghao smiled and said, “Also Dino  _(Minghao’s roommate)_ is gone for the week. He went back to Iksan for his cousin’s wedding.”

    Jun nodded.

 

**.   . .**

 

    The whole walk back to his dorm, all Minghao wanted to do was shake Jun by the shoulders and say _What the hell is wrong with you today_!

    It’s not like _Jun_ was the one hurting. Minghao had just learned that he could never love the person he was forced to be with! To make matters worse, the person he _did_ love was being a dick and wouldn’t hold his hand and would _never know about his feelings_.

    Minghao tried his very best to keep the illusion of normalcy between them: It was a Friday, they walked home together on Fridays, ate popsicles even though it was 30 degrees out, they watched Chinese dramas and ordered crappy Chinese take-out which came with fortune cookies which weren’t even Chinese.

 

**.   . .**

   

    As the evening progressed, the invisible and emotional gap had soothed between them. Minghao stood on the tips of his toes, browsing the drawers for soy sauce, and was saying, “That is really dumb, I’m moving out.” To a pun Jun had just made.

    “This is _your_ dorm.” Jun laughed.

    “You’ve tainted it with your disgusting puns, you can keep this place.”

    “Can I have your roommate too?” Jun asked.

    “Only if I can have yours.”

    Jun laughed, “No, Wonwoo is mine.” Minghao tried not to read too far into this, and tried not to think about how he had walked in on them the previous night.

    “I’ll fight you for him.”

    Jun pouted, which wasn’t fair because it made the vampire look _adorable_. “You’d win.”

    “Yeah, I’d kick your ass.”

    “You’d like to do that, wouldn’t you?”

    “I’ll wreck your pretty face.” Minghao threatened. _Fuck_ , he made his mistake.

    Jun laughed and batted his eyelashes, “You think I’m pretty?”

    “Sometimes.”

    “What does _that_ mean?” Jun asked, genuinely curious.

    “Well, you know, if every person in the world ceased to exist, I’d consider you to be pretty hot. I mean, there’s no one else to compare you to.”

    “Are you still alive in this scenario? Because then I’d still look ugly next to you.”

    Minghao tried _really hard_ not to blush. Jun didn’t mean it anyways, he told himself, Jun was just being Jun. “You’re really sappy, you know that?” Minghao said, scrunching up his nose.

    Jun came up behind Minghao and tickled him. “Yeah but you love me.”

    Tickling was Minghao’s one weakness (unfortunately) and he stumbled back and Jun caught him, the vampire’s strong arms encircling his torso. This was the closest he’d been to Jun since he had been mated, and Minghao missed _this,_ missed being with _Jun_ , a lot. “What was that you were saying about being able to win a fight against me?” Jun asked, laughing and still holding onto Minghao.

    “To be fair, _you_ said I would win. And also this is not a fight, and if it were, this doesn’t count as winning.”

    “I have you in my arms. I think that counts as winning.” Jun said. Now Minghao was _really_ blushing, and this fact did not go unnoticed by the vampire.

    Both boys were also hyper aware of the fact that their faces were now inches away from each other, breathing only the air in the space between them. If Minghao moved slightly forward, the two would be kissing. Hahaaa, Minghao was fucked.

    But Jun didn’t let go, he only stared back at the werewolf in his arms.

    All the anger, the wanting, the tension was condensed into the little space between the vampire and the werewolf. Maybe it was the way Jun was staying completely still, not even breathing, or the way the vampire’s eyes had flicked down to his lips, or the way his jaw was clenched. Minghao did something stupid, and reached up to touch the vampires cheekbones, his jaw, and then his lips.

    Jun’s eyes fluttered closed.

    Their bodies were pressed against each other, and Minghao knew he was going to do something dumb. Heck, he _was_ doing something dumb, which was allowing himself to be this close to Jun.

    Suddenly he was pushed away, but it was Jun who stumbled back.

    Technically, the vampire didn’t have to breath, but he leaned against the counter and took three full breaths for good measure anyways, and ran his hand through his hair. Despite everything going on, Minghao still found this hot.

“Are you okay?” Minghao asked.

“Yeah.” The vampire replied, a little too quickly for it to be convincing.

“You’re lying. I can hear you’re lying, you know that?”

“I’m… not.” Jun really did suck at lying.

“This afternoon…” Minghao said, unsure of what he was saying, only knowing that he wanted answers, “You didn’t hold my hand.” It was a small thing, but it had irritated Minghao until now. Even though the werewolf would never admit it, he liked having physical contact with Jun.

Jun wasn’t looking at Minghao.

“I mean, you have a mate now.” Jun didn’t know what he was saying either, he just knew that whatever was coming out of his mouth distanced the space between him and Minghao. And that was good.

But that was not what Minghao expected to hear, and even though it wasn’t Jun’s fault, the statement that had come out of the vampire’s mouth made Minghao hate his mate even more. “So? Do you think I _asked_ for this?”

“It’s just… shouldn’t you be loyal to Mingyu?”

“Is being with you, my friend, unloyal?” The word _friend_ hurt both Minghao and Jun, even though it was what they were. It was the truth.

“But Minghao, when you touch me like that…”

“Like what?” Minghao asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Jun sucked in a sharp breath. “I don’t… I don’t know.” That was as good as Jun could do.

Minghao peered up at the vampire, “Did it mean something to you?”

“You’re my friend,” Jun said, “Of course it meant something.”

Neither of the boys knew what that meant, and the conversation was dropped. It was not what Jun wanted to say, and it was not what Minghao wanted to hear.


	7. Easier said than done

         At 10:05 p.m., Wonwoo was awake and in the kitchen heating up a glass of milk. He wondered where Jun was.

         No, Wonwoo already knew Jun was over at Minghao's. But this Friday was… different. With Minghao's mate and Jun's feelings…

         Wonwoo wondered how that would play out.

         He regretted wondering later when Jun burst through the door and Wonwoo almost spilled his milk all over the floor. The milk he had worked  _ hard _ to heat up (okay, he didn't work  _ that _ hard, but it was dark out and Wonwoo was tired, so work was work). “Wonwoo…” Jun said, in the voice he used when he was about to complain about something. “It was horrible. I said something dumb, and he touched my face, but I was holding him-”

         “Woah, slow down,” Wonwoo said, even though he caught every word Jun was saying. Even at night the werewolf had a sharp mind. Whether he wanted to use it at this time was the real question. “Is this about Minghao?”

         “Yes. Of course.” Jun replied. Wonwoo tried his best to refrain from rolling his eyes.  _ Of course _ . 

         “But all you do is eat and watch dramas on Fridays.” Wonwoo said, knowing his best friend well enough to be burdened with this information.

         “Yeah, but Wonwoo, tonight I almost kissed him.”

_ How do you almost kiss someone?  _ was Wonwoo's first thought. He let Jun continue.

“He stumbled and I caught him and then he started touching my face,” Jun started talking even faster now, “and I nearly did kiss him.” The vampire buried his face in his hands. “What am I going to do.”

Wonwoo walked over to his friend and patted his back, “Jun,” Wonwoo said, about to be a total hypocrite, “I think you should tell him.” If Wonwoo were in Jun’s position, he wouldn’t have said anything. But Wonwoo was not one to open himself up all that often. In his freshman year of high school, Wonwoo had a crush on a boy, but didn’t know how to express it so it came out as, “You’re really annoying.”

And then one day Wonwoo felt a sharp pain in his chest, as if something had shattered, and he knew his mate had died. He kind of gave up on finding love after that.

Jun widened his eyes, “No, I  _ can’t _ .”

Wonwoo sighed, “But you’re hurting right now, Jun. If you tell him, at least you can move on.”

“It’s not like that,” Jun said, “It’s  _ impossible _ for him to love me. And I’m not spilling my feelings over a lost cause at the cost of my friendship with him.”

Wonwoo shook his head, “I know, it was dumb of me to suggest it.”

“Yeah, easier said than done.”


	8. Changed the Subject

**Monday**

 

    Seungcheol, Vernon, Wonwoo and Mingyu met at Wonwoo’s dorm after school. Mingyu had suggested going to the Diamond cafe across the street, but both Wonwoo and Seungcheol had refused. Apparently there was some rivalry between the Serenity cafe and the Diamond cafe, dating years back. Mingyu had laughed at the absurd fact that there were rivalries between _cafes_ , but was met with blank stares from the werewolf and warlock who worked at Serenity.

    The four boys were sprawled on the ground of Wonwoo’s room. Mingyu stuck next to Wonwoo because he was the only other person in the room Mingyu kind of knew. And he had only known Wonwoo for a few days.

          But the few days had been action packed: he'd come to a new school, found his mate, and realized he knew how to growl (he'd never growled before). Mingyu wasn't so proud of that last fact.

         He wasn't so sure he liked this whole _wolf_ thing. It had given him a bad impression of himself to Wonwoo when they first met. Mingyu worried Wonwoo might have hated him after that incident. After all, it was a fact that alphas didn't get along very often.

         Mingyu was so thankful Wonwoo didn't end up hating him.

         In an alternate universe, in a different time, in a different setting, Mingyu would've striked up a conversation with the attractive barista who worked at Serenity. Maybe his first impression wouldn't have been so horrible.

         But in this world, in this time, Minghao had been on Mingyu's mind when he met Wonwoo. The thought of his mate had brushed aside all else that was going on in his head.

          Even now, sprawled out on Wonwoo's floor trying to come up with lyrics, thoughts of his mate distracted him.

          For most of his life, Mingyu had wanted the kind of closeness mates had. He wanted to find someone who clicked with him. Who stood by his side through life. Now Mingyu found that person.

         “Whelp, you're the chosen one.” A voice said, snapping Mingyu out of his thoughts.

         The three other boys around him had their fingers on their noses, staring at him. “Nose goes. You're last so you have to write and sing the chorus.” Seungcheol said, a sheepish look on his face, as if he felt guilty being the one to break the bad news to Mingyu.

         Mingyu sighed “Dammit.”

         Wonwoo laughed, “You snooze you lose.” Wonwoo's laugh was nice, and lit up his face. It was one of those laughs that was soft and lingered in the air.

        Vernon said, “Yeah, you zoned out for a good minute over.”

        “We took advantage of that.” Wonwoo said frankly. Seungcheol and Vernon both had smiles on their faces.

         Mingyu frowned, but the happy shine in his eyes took away all the bite, and said “I'm being ganged up on.”

 

**.   . .**

 

         Wonwoo had lost track of time (the only clock in his dorm resided in Jun's room), and so the boys had worked through sunset. Jun had been in his room studying, but the last time Wonwoo had checked up on him, he was asleep.

        Wonwoo shook his head, smiling at his mess of a roommate, and returned to his group members.

        Surprisingly, they got a good amount of lyrics down on paper.

        If Wonwoo was being completely honest, he didn't have much faith in his team when the project began. He never liked group projects anyways, no matter who it was with.

        But he had to admit, the time the four boys spent together was enjoyable.

    Vernon left first at around 9:30 that night, and Seungcheol followed shortly after. However Mingyu stuck behind.

    “You good?” Wonwoo asked.

    Mingyu frowned, “I have a confession to make.”

    Wow, Mingyu was really dramatic, Wonwoo thought. “Uh, okay.” He said.

    “I haven’t written a single word.” Mingyu confessed.

    “But I saw you working the entire time.”

    “But they were all bad.” Mingyu complained, “I’m no good at composing.”

    Wonwoo highly doubted that.  Everyone had the ability to compose. Even before Jihoon had taught him how to, Wonwoo would scrawl lyric ideas down on scrap pieces of paper and on the corners of napkins, but never in his notebook. Later, a rather intimidating fae had taught him how to channel his ideas into a rhythm and a song. “The theme is Trauma, so just… I dunno-“ Wonwoo said, trying to help Mingyu.

    “Think about something traumatic?” Mingyu finished. “But the problem is I haven’t gone through anything traumatic. I live a privileged life and my parents love me.”

    Wonwoo thought for a second. “It doesn’t have to be _traumatic_. It can be something that you did that you regret, or changed you, or hurt you. One of those.” Wonwoo paused, “And you don’t have to write about the event, just how you felt during the event. Most songs don’t tell actual stories, anyways. They’re all about emotions.”

    Mingyu peered over at Wonwoo, “What event were you thinking about when you wrote your lyrics?”

    Wonwoo hesitated before speaking, “When I came out to my parents.” It wasn’t something Wonwoo liked to talk about, but if it helped Mingyu, then sure.

    “Oh. Were they, like, mad?”

    Wonwoo frowned, “No, not really. They didn’t say anything but I could see the disappointment on their faces. I mean, we’re cool now, but…”

    “Ah.”

    Getting uncomfortable, Wonwoo quickly changed the subject. “So, let me see some of you’re lyrics.”

    Mingyu handed his notebook to Wonwoo saying, “They’re no good. I need a lot of help.”

    “Well,” Wonwoo said, “I’m the only help here, so hopefully that’ll do.”

    And the two boys set on coming up with lyrics through the night.

 

**.   . .**

 

**Tuesday**

 

    Mingyu woke up before Wonwoo, and at first he was rather disoriented. He opened up his phone and checked the time.

    5:21 a.m. There was also a text from Soonyoung saying “WHERE R U.”

    He groaned. Both boys had fallen asleep on the floor last night. He remembered watching Wonwoo get tired and doze off, while Mingyu continued working on lyrics. He guessed he may have eventually fallen asleep too.

    Mingyu took a second to look down at the sleeping werewolf. Wow, Mingyu thought, he’s kinda hot. He wondered how Wonwoo looked on mornings, with messy hair and half-lidded eyes.

    Mingyu gently shook Wonwoo awake, “Hey,” He said, “I’m gonna go. Get on the bed and get some more sleep. You still have at least an hour.”

    Wonwoo mumbled back something incoherent, and Mingyu didn’t try to decipher it. Something like, “Yeokaywerhever.”

    He quietly slipped out of Wonwoo’s dorm and on the walk back to his own dorms, looked back upon the lyrics they had written.

    When he got back to his own dorm room he found Soonyoung asleep sprawled on the couch instead of his own bed. He did that sometimes.

    Instead of going back to sleep, Mingyu continued writing down ideas of lyrics down on paper, thinking back to everything Wonwoo had taught him. It seemed as if his pencil moved on its own accord, and although his lyrics were nowhere near as good as Wonwoo’s, they were his, and he was proud of them.

    Smiling, he got ready for school.

 

**.   . .**

 

    Wonwoo woke up to Jun shouting, “Holy frick, Wonwoo, are you still sleeping?”

    He was in his bed, although he had no recollection of getting there. All he remembered was writing lyrics with Mingyu.

    “What time is it?” He asked, rubbing his eyes.

    “7:43.” Jun replied.

    “Shit.” Wonwoo said, jumping out of bed. He had about five minutes to get ready and 10 minutes to walk to campus.

    “I have pancakes in a ziplock for you, so hurry up.” Jun said.

    At times like this, Wonwoo’s roommate truly was amazing.

 

**.   . .**

 

    Wonwoo was getting his textbooks from his locker and talking to Jun, but mid-sentence, Jun said “Bye.” And walked away.

    Strange.

    At that moment, Minghao came up to Wonwoo. “Hey, have you seen Jun?” He asked.

    Wonwoo thought about the situation for a bit before saying, “No, he told me he had to turn something in to his teacher or something.” He lied. Wonwoo came to the conclusion that Jun was avoiding Minghao. The two had basically been circling around each other all of Monday.

    “Oh.” Was all Minghao said, and he didn’t analyze any further.

    Minghao watched as Wonwoo buried his textbook deep in his backpack, and Wonwoo wondered why the other werewolf was staring at him so weirdly.

    “You… you smell like Mingyu.” Minghao said, with no emotion whatsoever. Wonwoo did not know if this fact bothered the Minghao or not.

     “Do I stink?” 

     Minghao laughed, “No. It’s just, were you with him? Because Jun-“

     “Wait, what does Jun have to do with anything?” Wonwoo asked, confused.

     “It’s just, I thought you two were together.”

     “What? _No._ Gross.”

     Minghao perked up for some unknown reason. Wonwoo wasn’t sure if the other Chinese werewolf knew he was doing it. “Oh, you’re not?”

     “What would give you that idea?” Wonwoo asked. And wait… Did Minghao sound jealous? But Minghao was mated. Was it possible for him to still have feelings for Jun?

     Wonwoo felt bad about assuming this. If he told anyone about his suspicions and it turned out to be wrong, both Minghao and Jun would be hurt.

     “I, um, kind of walked in on you guys sleeping together, on the couch, a few weeks back.”

 _Oh yeah_ , Wonwoo thought, _That was when Jun was crying over you. I remember._ But Wonwoo didn’t say that. He just wondered what Minghao’s reaction would be if he had. Instead he said,  “Oh yeah, we just fell asleep watching movies.”

     Minghao seemed satisfied with the answer and switched the subject. “What movie?” Wonwoo found it strange that Minghao had asked more questions about Jun than his mate.

     “The Emoji Movie.”

     Minghao wrinkled his nose in distaste. “That’s a horrible movie.”

     Wonwoo laughed, “Why do you think we fell asleep watching it?”

     Minghao smiled and said, “Fair enough.” Then headed off to his class. Wonwoo did too.

     Upon entering the classroom, Mingyu bounded up to him and exclaimed, “I finished the chorus!”

     “That’s amazing!” Wonwoo said enthusiastically.

     Their group was on track to being able to start recording tomorrow. Of course, recording was the longest part of the process, because it was the first time they would hear all their parts together.

 

**.   . .**

 

     The composition teacher was giving a presentation that day on how to use a recording studio, but they’d already gone through all that last year.

     As usual, Seungcheol wasn’t really listening. He’d gotten a text from MingMing saying that he’d meet the werewolf at Serenity cafe after school, to which Seungcheol had responded “YOU’RE IN KOREA RIGHT NOW?”

     Seungcheol then went to text Wonwoo, “Hey, MINGMING’S HERE!”

     Wonwoo, who was usually paying attention in class, responded immediately and sent, “Cool” with a thumbs up emoji. Apparently Wonwoo wasn’t paying attention either. Seungcheol highly doubted anyone in this classroom was.

     Seungcheol typed back “Invite your vampire friend after school to Serenity, yeah?”

     They made eye contact from across the room and Wonwoo nodded.

 

**.   . .**

 

    Wonwoo had never met MingMing before, but only heard about him from Seungcheol. Seungcheol had asked him to invite Jun over to meet the other vampire, and Wonwoo thought that this would be a good opportunity for Jun to make a new friend and take his mind off Minghao.

    Lunch rolled around and _Ha_ , Wonwoo thought, _this is awkward_. He’d invited Mingyu to sit with them, and Soonyoung came along too. It seemed that Soonyoung was already close to Jihoon, and they struck up a conversation upon meeting. Or more like Soonyoung was talking and the shorter fae listened and occasionally nodded.

    The real tension was seeping off Minghao and Jun. Also Mingyu being there didn’t really help either. Usually Jun and Minghao sat next to each other, but now they were sitting on opposite sides of the group. Mingyu took up the spot next to Minghao where Jun usually was.

    However, it seemed that Minghao was completely ignoring his mate, and talking to Vernon, who Wonwoo was surprised to see. Apparently Minghao and Vernon knew each other pretty well, but he had never sat with them before today. It seemed that everyone from their composition group project was there, save for Seungcheol who was probably making out with Jeonghan in the janitor’s closet.

        He couldn’t wait for school to be over.

   


	9. I’ve Told You About Him Before

**Still Tuesday**

 

Jun waited for Wonwoo at the school gates, having gotten his friend's text saying “Meet me after school.” He stood there watching students, both supernatural and human, stroll out of school, ready to sleep, play volleyball, or whatever it was that students did after school. But one specific student caught his eye.

Minghao walked along the side of the crowd, ignoring Jun until he got to the exit. They made eye contact for a split second, before Minghao turned his head back to look at the ground and continued walking.

Jun wanted to say something, wanted to talk to the werewolf, but he didn’t know how. Why did things have to be so  _ awkward _ between them? They weren’t like this before.

“Jun!” A voice called. Wonwoo was finally there.

“What took you so long?” The vampire asked.

“Hey, I was only a few minutes! Did you miss me that much?”

“ _ You _ told me to meet you here.” Jun retorted.

Wonwoo rolled his eyes and began walking, and Jun followed. “Hey, the dorms are that way.” Jun said, pointing the direction opposite to which Wonwoo was going.

“We’re not going to the dorms.”

“Oh wait,” Jun realized, “Yeah, you have a job. Okay then, bye.” The vampire was prepared to go the other way before Wonwoo tugged at his hand.

“You’re coming  _ with _ me to Serenity today.”

“Aw,” Jun whined, “But I don’t want to. I have homework.”

Jun wasn’t getting out of this that easily, though. “You always finish your homework in under an hour. Come on, you have time.”

Jun planted his feet on the ground and didn’t let Wonwoo tug him any further. “But whyyy? You never made me go to Serenity with you before.”

“You know MingMing?” Wonwoo asked.

“No.” Jun replied.

“I’ve told you about him before,” Wonwoo said, thinking back, “He’s the other vampire. Seungcheol’s friend.”

“I don’t remember.” The vampire lied, just to get out of whatever Wonwoo was trying to rope him into.

“Well, whatever. The point is, MingMing is at Serenity right now with my boss, and Seungcheol told me to bring you along so you guys could meet. MingMing’s never seen another vampire before either.” Wonwoo explained.

“But I don’t have an overwhelming desire to meet another vampire.” Jun argued.

     Wonwoo sighed, “Come on, go meet the guy, and maybe it’ll get your mind off of… you know who.”

     “Minghao’s not  _ Voldemort. _ ” Jun said, stalling so he could avoid going. He didn’t really want to go. He actually didn’t feel like having any social interaction at the moment. But deep down he knew that what Wonwoo said was true. He  _ really  _ needed to stop thinking about Minghao. It was for the best.

     “Come on, give it a shot.” Wonwoo pleaded.

     Something about the way his friend was talking made Jun suspicious. “You sound like your trying to set me up with him.” 

     Wonwoo shrugged, “Maybe.”

     This fact made Jun feel even less inclined to go. “I haven’t even met the guy!”

     “Come on, please,” Wonwoo begged, dragging out the last word and looked at Jun with wide, sad eyes.

     Jun knew his friend wasn’t going to stop complaining, so he grumbled a short, “Fine.”

     “Yay!” Wonwoo cheered, ditching the forlorn eyes, “His name’s MingMing by the way.”

     Jun rubbed at his forehead, “Yeah, I know. You told me.”

 

**.   . .**

 

     Serenity’s shop bell door ringed. Seungcheol looked up from his conversation with MingMing and found Wonwoo and Jun walking in. Seungcheol didn’t know Jun all that well, he only knew him because Wonwoo was friends with him.

     “Ah, sorry I’m late, Cheol,” Wonwoo apologized, “It took forever to drag this one in.” Wonwoo jerked his thumb over to Jun.

     Seungcheol laughed, “It’s okay, we never have any customers at this time of day anyways.” Then he turned to the friend who Wonwoo had brought. “Hi, Jun.”

     Jun waved and said, “Hey.” But his eyes were looking at something- some _ one _ \- behind him.

     MingMing got up and introduced himself, but his introduction didn’t get to far because then MingMing turned his head and noticed Jun. MingMing looked almost as shocked as Seungcheol had ever seen him, and said, “You’re a vampire.”

     “Oh really? I hadn’t noticed.” Jun replied sarcastically. Seungcheol saw Wonwoo kick him.

     Then Wonwoo sided up to Seungcheol and whispered in his ear, “Jun gets sarcastic when he’s nervous. Also MingMing is  _ hot _ .”

     Seungcheol snorted, “Try getting to know him.” He averted his attention back to the two vampires who were studying each other.

     “那你也是中國人？( _ And you’re Chinese?) _ ” MingMing said. Seungcheol and Wonwoo made eye contact, and they both shrugged at each other. Neither understood the language.

     Jun tilted his head, “你看的出來?  _ (You can tell?) _ ”

     “Yeah, you look like you are.” MingMing said, switching back to Korean.

     Jun laughed, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

     “It means you’re very handsome.” MingMing replied, a satisfied smile on his face.  _ Ugh _ , Seungcheol thought,  _ why does MingMing have to be such a flirt?  _ The warlock saw Jun rolling his eyes, but there was also a faint pink stain on his cheeks.

     “Okay, that’s enough outta you.” Seungcheol told MingMing.

     “What?” MingMing asked innocently.

     Seungcheol grabbed his friend by the shoulder and turned him so that he was facing the werewolf in the room. “This is Wonwoo.” Seungcheol said. MingMing and Wonwoo shook hands.

     “Hi,” Wonwoo said, “Seungcheol’s told me a lot about you.”

     MingMing smiled, “All good things I hope.”

     “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” Seungcheol said, to which his friend started laughing.

     Then he introduced MingMing to Jun. “What’s your full name?” MingMing asked the other vampire.

     “Wen Junhui.” Jun replied.

     MingMing turned to Seungcheol and said, “I like Junhui.”

     Seungcheol made a disgusted noise, then turned to Jun and said, “I apologize on behalf of him.” Jun laughed.

     The shop bell door rung again and a customer walked in. “Ah, gotta go, guys.” Seungcheol said, and ran over behind the counter to help the customer, leaving Wonwoo, Jun, and MingMing together.

     This customer happened to be a hassler. It was a cup of  _ coffee _ for heaven’s sake! “Come on, let me give you $1.25.” The man insisted.

     “I told you, sir,” Seungcheol said, exasperated, “It costs $2.50.”

Seungcheol was tired and at the end of his wits, so he said, “You can pay the whole price or leave.”

     The customer clearly looked irritated, but gave Seungcheol $2.50 and got his coffee, promptly leaving.

     After the customer was gone, Seungcheol turned to find that the shop was empty, except for him and Wonwoo.

     “Where’s MingMing?” The warlock asked.

     Wonwoo had a stunned look on his face, “You’re friend whisked Jun away!”

     “He what?”

     “MingMing and Jun left talking.”

     “Oh, that’s good?” Seungcheol said, forming his statement into a question. 

     “Dude, Jun hasn’t had proper social interaction since… Well, since, Minghao got mated. This is great!” Wonwoo exclaimed.

     Seungcheol gave his friend a wierd look, then shrugged, “Okay, I guess.”

     The shop door opened again and Jeonghan entered. “Hi Wonwoo. Hey Cheollie!” Wonwoo pretended to gag at the two’s public display of love.

“My angel!” Seungcheol greeted with a large smile, because Jeonghan was  _ literally  _ an Angel. Seungcheol had been young back when he first met Jeonghan. A little 16 year old sorcerer filled with ideas and feelings and he was attempting to summon a plant.

         He'd read about a symbol that, if drawn correctly and etched in the correct substance, could summon living things. He’s just finished his sketch when  _ Bam!,  _ Jeonghan appeared.

     Seungcheol later learned that the angel had snuck away from his home to come down to earth and study music. The two had known each other for what felt like forever, but had fallen in love since the very start.

“Where’s MingMing?” Jeonghan asked, “I haven’t seen him in forever.”

“Oh yeah, he ran off with Jun.” Seungcheol explained.

Jeonghan laughed and rolled his eyes, “He’s been here for a day and he’s already picked up another boy. Great.”

 

**.   . .**

 

In all honesty, Jun had a great time that afternoon.

Laughing with MingMing had almost made him forget about Minghao for a few seconds.

_ Almost _ .

     Jun had to admit, MingMing was great. He would hug Jun from behind, hold his hand, and whenever Jun made a pun, he would laugh and say, “Junhui, you’re really funny.”

     It was a huge contrast from how Minghao would say, “Jun, if you make another pun I will kill you.” Despite the werewolf’s threats however, Jun would continue making jokes, and would turn to find Minghao laughing, even though the werewolf would never admit it later. Minghao’s laugh was probably Jun’s favorite sound.

 

**.   . .**

 

     At 5:30 p.m., Jun walked into their dorm, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, Wonwoo saw he had a real, genuine smile on his face. “So, how’d it go with MingMing?” Wonwoo asked.

     “He’s really nice.” Jun said, “Like,  _ really  _ nice. I had a good time, and I’ve never talked to another vampire before.”

     Wonwoo smiled, “Cool. And?”

     Jun looked at Wonwoo, “And what?” He asked, feigning dumb.

     Wonwoo sighed, “I can tell there’s more.”

     Jun bit his lip, “He also calls me Junhui, which is kinda wierd.”

     “Get to the point.” Wonwoo said, because he  _ knew _ his friend was hiding something.

     “And he asked me out.”

     Wonwoo’s eyes widened, “He  _ did _ ? Already? Are you gonna say yes?”

     Jun hesitated, “I don’t know…”

     “You said he’s really nice.” Wonwoo reminded.  _ He’s going to start talking about Minghao now, _ Wonwoo thought. It seemed that every conversation they had involved the werewolf Jun was in love with, and it was inevitable that this conversation would have Minghao too.

     “Minghao’s really nice too…” Jun said.  _ Knew it _ . But then Jun had a fond smile on his face, “Ah, who am I kidding. He judo flipped me a week after we met. And then flipped me off.”

     Wonwoo looked with pitiful eyes at Jun, who’s face lit up at the mere thought of Minghao. Minghao who had a mate. “You have to get your mind off him.”

     Jun sighed, “I know.” The vampire then buried his face in his hands and said, “The date is on Friday.”


	10. Okay

* * *

**Thursday**

 

    Minghao slammed his locker closed, a little bit harder than he had intended to. Based off the last time he checked his watch, the first period bell should ring in 2 minutes. Mingyu was next to him, and his mate asked, “Do you wanna come over today?”

    And Minghao gave him the same answer he had given him every other time his mate had asked, “No.”

    “Are you a virgin?” Mingyu asked, “Is that why you won’t?”

    “What?” Minghao’s face was red, either anger or embarrassment, maybe both. “No. It’s just, I don’t _know_ you. I’m not going over to your dorms.”

    “But you refuse to get to know me.” Mingyu complained, and it was a fair enough argument. _Maybe I’m being unreasonable_ , Minghao thought. It was definitely true. It wasn’t Mingyu’s fault his mate was so frustrating.

    Minghao decided to be a little nicer. “Okay, that’s fair enough.”

    Mingyu brightened up, “So you will come over?”

    In this sense, Minghao was lucky he had a mate like Mingyu. At this point, ordinary mates would’ve already had their first time. They never waited this long. Often, alphas would get impatient and take their mates without his or her consent. It was nothing short of rape. At least Mingyu asked for permission. Even if it was every day, and even though Minghao said _No_ every time.

    Minghao told himself he didn’t say No because of Jun, but because he wasn’t comfortable with Mingyu. He said No because he refused to sleep with someone he barely knew, even if it was his mate.

    But even more so recently, Minghao found his thoughts wandering back to the vampire every time Mingyu extended out his invitation. He needed to prove himself right. Jun was not a factor in this.

    “Okay,” Minghao said, “I will go over. But that is _it._ ”

    “Really?” Mingyu asked, he looked like he didn’t believe it.

    “If anything happens, then I’m going to leave immediately.”

    Mingyu nodded as if he was still stunned because Minghao said yes. In an alternate universe, Minghao would’ve felt lucky to have a mate like Mingyu, someone who was tall, handsome, and had a soft heart and cute personality.

    “7:00? In the evening?”

    “Okay.”

    “Okay.”

 

**.   . .**

 

    Soonyoung sat inside the school’s recording studio, watching Jihoon sing. The fae had asked Soonyoung to help him record, but in all honesty, Soonyoung had no idea what he was supposed to do. When he told Jihoon as much, the fae had just rolled his eyes and dragged Soonyoung along anyway.

    Soonyoung didn’t complain, even though he was spending extra hours after school had ended on campus, because it was _Jihoon_.

    The fae could’ve asked Minghao, Seungcheol, or any number of his other friends, but he asked Soonyoung. So the boy wasn’t going to say no.

    The boy and the fae had met during each other during their audition’s into Pledis university. Audition was only necessary if you wanted to get a scholarship, and Soonyoung’s family didn’t have any money to send him so he had to audition. It was a one in a thousandth chance he would get one, but he did so anyway.

    His parents had worried about him going, because Pledis was also one of the few schools that allowed both supernatural beings and humans. It’s not as if the two couldn’t get along, and often they did. But a few humans still feared supernatural beings. The violence was on the human’s part, and whatever stories about the feuds between vampires and werewolves weren’t true, the true resentment came from between supernatural beings and humans. Soonyoung had suspected humans were jealous of supernatural beings.

    It had never bothered Soonyoung that he had been born as a boy. Sure, it would’ve been easier if he had the speed of a vampire, or the senses of a werewolf, but Soonyoung had grown up learning to be grateful for what he had. He’d come from a poor family who could only afford a meal every day and parents who had hand sewn their clothes. Getting into Pledis didn’t make him forget about his life back home. That was why he danced.

    The fae and boy had come across each other multiple times, but only hung out outside of school. Nowadays, though, they hung out during lunch as well. Soonyoung had been reluctant at first, to meet Mingyu’s new friend. “He’s really hot.” Mingyu told Soonyoung, as if that piece of information would make the boy drop everything and meet Wonwoo. But Jihoon had been a part of Wonwoo’s group, so that gave him a reason to stay.

    Soonyoung watched the fae sing into the microphone, and he couldn’t help thinking how amazing Jihoon is. _He would kill me if I told him that._ Soonyoung thought. The fae sung with his eyes closed, and didn’t notice Soonyoung’s smile.

    Neither did Jihoon notice Soonyoung’s mouth open in awe when the fae sang the chorus. _He’s amazing_ , Soonyoung thought, again. He thought that a lot.

    “ _I just want it si-_ Ah fuck.” The fae’s voice cracked. He stopped singing and opened his eyes to look at Soonyoung. “Sorry, I’m going to start over.”

    It was as if Soonyoung had been hypnotized by the fae’s voice. He nodded slowly, but before the fae could start singing again, the boy said, “I _really_ like you.”

    Jihoon paused.

    The fae didn’t turn to look at Soonyoung.

    _Yup,_ Soonyoung thought, _I ruined my friendship with him._ The confession had been at the tip of his tongue every conversation the fae and boy had, but he’d never dared to say it before.

    “Okay.” Was all Jihoon said.

    “Okay.” Soonyoung said, and the fae started singing again. This time however, the fae sung with his eyes open, and made eye contact with Soonyoung while singing.

    Soonyoung wanted to look away. He really did.

    But he didn’t look away. He didn’t back down.

    Soonyoung looked into the fae’s eyes and studied them. What did Jihoon feel? Soonyoung couldn’t read his eyes.

    This time, Jihoon finished the song.

    Soonyoung didn’t want to look away, didn’t want the moment to end, because he had a feeling that whatever came after the moment, the song, the confession, wouldn’t be good.

    He didn’t think he could afford losing his friendship with Jihoon.

    Soonyoung watched as the fae packed his papers together, then tapped the bottom of the stack onto the desk beside him so that they were neat and orderly. Jihoon shuffled around for a bit, and Soonyoung had no idea what he was doing.

    Finally the fae was prepared to leave, he had his hand on the doorknob, but stood there, hesitating. “Soonyoung?” The Jihoon said.

    The boy looked up at the fae. He didn’t want to hear what Jihoon was going to say next. Yet at the same time, it felt as if every second the fae didn’t say what he was going to say, Soonyoung’s heart clenched tighter and tighter. “Thanks,” Jihoon said, “For coming with me.”

    Soonyoung wanted to say something, but at that moment there was a knock on the door.

    Jihoon turned away and opened the door, to find Wonwoo, Mingyu, Seungcheol, and Vernon standing there. “Are you guys still using this place?” Vernon asked, unsure.

    “Yeah, no, we’re done.” Soonyoung nodded. Well, at least he knew his voice still worked.

    Jihoon slipped out, and Soonyoung moved to do the same, but was caught by a strong hold on his arm. “Hey,” Mingyu said, “What was that all about?”

    Without hesitating, Soonyoung said, “I told him.”

    Mingyu’s eyes widened, “How did he react?” Mingyu was the only other person who knew about Soonyoung’s feelings for Jihoon.

    “He didn’t.” Then Soonyoung exited the recording studio, but when he looked around, the fae was already long gone.

 

**.   . .**

 

    There were only three recording studios throughout the whole school, and Wonwoo and his group were just lucky enough to find one where it’s inhabitants had just finished recording.

    Out of the corner of his eye, Wonwoo saw Mingyu exchange a few words with a contrite-looking Soonyoung.

    Seungcheol had already moved to the music stand and was organizing everyone’s papers in order. They’d all collected their lyrics, and formed what they _hoped_ was a song, yesterday.

    After Soonyoung left and the door was closed behind him, Seungcheol asked, “Who’s recording first?”

    Mingyu raised his hand, “I am.”

    “Well then,” Seungcheol said, and raised the stand to as high as it could go.

    “Are you sure it’s high enough?” Wonwoo joked, even though the stand was nearly touching the ceiling, because Kim Mingyu was seriously a human skyscraper. Mingyu hit him in the shoulder but without any force.

    “Ha ha, very funny.” Mingyu retorted, and then walked up to the microphone and adjusted it to his own height.

    Wonwoo savored the time the other members were recording, because he was nervous for his own part. The amount of people he had rapped for totaled to exactly one, and even though Jihoon told him he was really good, he was still shy about rapping around other people.

    On another note, Mingyu was _really_ good. His rap borderlined on singing, which Wonwoo didn’t even know Mingyu could do. Wonwoo watched the taller male rap into the microphone with his eyes closed, and his hands sway around in the air. Wonwoo watched Mingyu in a way he hadn’t before.

    Seungcheol and Vernon were really good too. When it was his turn, he walked up to the microphone biting his nails, a bad habit he had picked up a few years ago.

    Wonwoo hesitated before he touched the microphone. The other members were staring at him. “Um, should I start now?”

    Seungcheol nodded, “No time like the present.”

    He took a deep breath, and unconsciously, his eyes darted over to Mingyu, remembering the conversation they had last week walking over to composition class. When they first met, properly. The other werewolf gave him an encouraging smile.

    Wonwoo began rapping.

    His voice moved, hesitant at first, but when he fell into the rhythm, it flowed along on its own accord. His hands were gripping the microphone and his eyes were cast downwards, towards the ground. He continued rapping.

    When his part was done, he looked up, and Mingyu was the first pair of eyes he met with his own. The other alpha male had been watching him the whole time, and when their eyes met, Mingyu had a wide smile that spanned across his face.

 

**.   . .**

 

           They’d been recording for at least 3 or 4 hours, and Vernon had even run out at one point to buy them all burgers. Technically, food wasn't allowed in the sound booth, but the boys were hellbent on finishing recording that day and soon became hungry. When they were out, the sky was nearly dark.

           Mingyu walked alongside Wonwoo after the recording session had ended (their dorms were in the same general direction).  “You’re really good. At rapping, that is.”

    Wonwoo shrugged, “Thanks… I guess?” Although the compliment truly made him happy.

    “No, I mean it. How come you only rap for Jihoon? You should rap for me too.”

    “You don’t deserve it.” Wonwoo joked. There was no story behind why he was nervous about rapping around other people, he just was.

           Mingyu laughed, “And after my generous compliment…”

           Wonwoo sighed and smiled, “You know you're good too. And all this time I thought you were just a pretty face.”

           Wonwoo realized he used the wrong choice of words. Mingyu smirked, “ _Really_ now?”

           “No, it's not like I think you're hot. I mean you are, but like… You… haveaniceface?” Wonwoo stuttered.

          Suddenly, Mingyu turned to Wonwoo and said, “You’re cute.”

          He couldn’t help the blush that formed on his cheeks, and he scowled. “You have a mate.” Mingyu wasn’t supposed to say that. Wonwoo wasn’t supposed to have that kind of reaction. It wasn’t possible for Wonwoo to have feelings for another alpha, much less a _mated_ one, much less a mated alpha that happened to be _Kim Mingyu_.

          “Oh, I…” Now it was Mingyu’s turn to blush, “I didn’t mean it like... that. I, um…”

         Wonwoo smiled at the other werewolf’s stuttering, “Nah, you’re good.”

         “Did you meet your mate yet?” Mingyu asked.

          “I’m… mate-less.” Wonwoo replied. It wasn’t a sensitive subject, it was just a subject Wonwoo didn’t like to dwell too deep in- thinking about missed opportunities and what could’ve been.

         Mingyu quirked an eyebrow, “What does that mean?”

          “My mate died.”

          “Oh,” Mingyu said, “I’m… sorry.”

          Wonwoo shrugged, “I mean, it’s alright I guess. You can’t really miss someone you never met.”

          “I just thought…” Mingyu hesitated, “You and Jun?”

          “Let me stop you right there,” Wonwoo said, pretending to gag, “Jun? No way. He’s my best friend. Besides, he’s in love with someone else.”

          There was a silence before Mingyu spoke again, “It’s Minghao isn’t it?”

          Wonwoo froze. “Fuck me,” Wonwoo thought, for exposing his friend’s secret.

          But apparently he said it out loud because Mingyu smirked and said, “I would, but I have a mate.”

          They got to a point where the path split, and Mingyu was going one way while Wonwoo was going the other. Before Mingyu could leave, however, Wonwoo grabbed his hand.

          Wonwoo had never grabbed anyone’s hand before. Sure, he’s let other people hold his hand, but _he_ ’s never grabbed anyone's hand. He ignored the way Mingyu’s palm felt warm against his, or the way Mingyu’s fingers that were loosely encircled around his wrist sent electric shocks up his arm. “Listen,” Wonwoo said, looking into Mingyu’s eyes, “You _have_ to forget what you just found out. Jun is… He’s _trying_ . I mean, he has a date this Friday. He’s trying really hard to move on, so _please_ don’t hate him.”

          ”I won’t.” Mingyu assured Wonwoo, “I mean, I can’t blame Jun, he can’t help the way he feels. Minghao- He wouldn’t be hard to fall in love with.” Mingyu then smiled, “Or maybe I’m just saying that because he’s my mate.”

          Wonwoo nodded, “Yeah, and… thanks.”

          The two werewolves then headed off to their own dorms.

 

**.   . .**

 

          Mingyu checked his watch. 6:58.

          He had two minutes until Minghao would be at his dorms, and if he was lucky, Minghao would be the type of guest to show up 5 minutes late.

          But apparently his mate was not.

          Mingyu got to his dorms but already found Minghao standing in front of the door, his arms crossed and a frown on his face. “You know as a host,” Minghao chided, “You should be the one greeting me.”

          “Ah, sorry,” Mingyu blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. For some reason, Minghao always made Mingyu nervous. “I just got back from a recording session.’

          “For what?” Minghao asked, as Mingyu moved to unlock the door.

          “Composition class.” Mingyu pushed the door open. His roommate was nowhere to be seen. The angel was probably out on a date with his boyfriend. “We have to compose and record our own song for the school’s website.”

          Minghao was silent for a while before saying, “I’d like to listen to it, one day.”

          Mingyu smiled, it was the first time his mate had shown interest in something about him. “Yeah, we’re ready to turn the song in tomorrow. I don’t know when it will be posted though.”

          “What’s it called?”

          “Trauma.” Mingyu replied.

          Minghao followed him around the dorm, and they were both unsure of what to do, until his mate asked, “Can I see your room?”

           “Uh, yeah.” Mingyu replied. His room was fairly clean, but his desk was still strewn with notebooks and papers. He hadn’t expected any guests, and most of all, he hadn’t expected Minghao to say yes to his invitation. Minghao’s “okay, fine” had probably made him the happiest he’s ever been all year. It was the joy of asking for something over and over again and being constantly shut down, until one day there was a yes. Well, not _exactly_ a yes, but an “okay, fine.”

          Minghao stepped into his room, and his eyes scanned the walls and then the bed. The sight of his mate in his room made him hyper aware of Minghao’s every movement.

          Mingy wanted… he _needed_.

          It was the wolf side of him that caused him to walk up to Minghao, that caused him to keep on walking until his mate’s knees struck against the edge of his bed and Minghao couldn’t back up anymore. But Minghao didn’t push him away either.

           It was the wolf side of him that caused him to growl, a low and intimate sound. Minghao didn’t meet his eyes, but his eyes darted towards Mingyu’s lips.

           That’s what it took for Mingyu to lose his control.

          He leaned in to kiss his mate.

 _This_ was what he was missing, what he had waited all his life for. The days he had spent waiting for Minghao felt like _years_. He’d never waited this long for someone before, but each kiss washed the pain away.

          It was a while before Minghao kissed back, before his mate’s own lips started moving against his. It drove him crazy.

          “When I came,” Minghao muttered, “I expected dinner or something.”

          Mingyu growled, “Later.” He pushed Minghao down on the bed.

           His mate only watched as Mingyu leaned over him to kiss him, again and again and again.

           Mingyu’s lips moved to kiss Minghao’s jaw, neck and collarbone. His lips lingered at the soft skin of his mate’s neck, a dark mark left behind when his lips traveled back to meet Minghao’s. Minghao didn’t say anything, not even when Mingyu’s hands went to the buttons of his jeans.

            Minghao didn’t make a single sound at all.

 

**.   . .**

 

          If either of the werewolves heard the door open, the voice of an angel saying “ew”, and then a slam closed, neither of them acknowledged it.

 

**.   . .**

 

           Minghao had scribbled a quick note and left it on his door, he had been fiddling with his hands on his walk, and he had stared with uncertainty at Mingyu’s door, and then he was there, he was in Mingyu’s bed, and he was under Mingyu.

          Minghao didn’t know what he was doing.

           He didn’t know what he was doing at school, he didn’t know what he was doing with Jun, and he didn’t know what he was doing _here,_ with Mingyu.

          He didn't feel _want_ with Mingyu.

          Unlike with Jun, where every second of every day he _wanted_ to be with the vampire, with Mingyu, he felt _need_ . A deep, brooding _need_.

          He felt lips on his neck, felt fingers fumbling on the buttons of his jeans. He felt warm hands travel up his shirt, and the soft cloth of Mingyu’s shirt touch his bare body. He felt hands reach down.

          Minghao felt like he _needed_ to be like this with Mingyu, it didn't mean he wanted it. No matter how much Minghao felt he needed it, needed _this_ , he did not want it. It was not right.

          “ _Stop_.”

 

**.   . .**

 

          Jun fidgeted with the sleeves of his shirt as he walked, a sign of nervousness.

          Minghao’s dorm wasn’t far from his own, it was just a few steps forward and then a left. Jun knew the directions like he knew the back of his hand. It was almost a habit, to be walking towards Minghao’s dorms.

           Wonwoo had finally convinced Jun to patch things up with Minghao.

           “It’s the first step to moving on.” His friend had told him, and Jun had agreed. Well, to be exact, Wonwoo had suggested Jun to tell Minghao about his feelings, his _real_ feelings. To put it bluntly, Wonwoo’s plan was for Minghao to reject Jun quickly, so that Jun would be heartbroken but ready to move on by his date on Friday. That was tomorrow.

          Jun had refused.

          Wonwoo knew Jun would refuse, and Jun knew his friend knew he would refuse. They knew everything about each other, and questions were mere words. They were unnecessary because Jun knew when Wonwoo had made up his mind, and likewise, Wonwoo knew when Jun had made up his mind.

           Instead, Jun decided he would go over to Minghao’s dorm to talk. He wanted to talk to Minghao. Just talk.

          When he got to Minghao’s dorm, there was note taped to the door. Jun frowned, Minghao had never left notes before. He was slightly disappointed Minghao wasn’t there, but there was also a part of him that was relieved.

          He read the note:

 

_I’m not home, but don’t take that as a sign to rob me (we’re all broke college students anyways)._

 

_Also, Vernon, Dino’s gonna be back on Saturday._

 

_Everyone else who happens to be here, idk why you’re here but I’m not, so there’s no point in you standing there and reading this note. Bye._

 

 

__Minghao_ _

 

 

          Jun stood there for a second longer, staring at Minghao’s swirled handwriting. It wasn’t the messy, hurried scrawl Minghao usually used. This handwriting was nice, the kind of handwriting that Minghao used when he wrote essays for his teachers, when he wasn’t in a hurry. Minghao had taken time to write the note. 

           The purpose of the note nagged at Jun, made him feel unsettled. Where _was_ Minghao?

          He turned and made his way back to his own dorms.

 

**.   . .**

 

          Wonwoo had expected Jun to be back from Minghao’s dorm much later, if Jun even came back at all. Sometimes Minghao and Jun would have sleepovers, and Wonwoo would get to the dorm all to himself.

          He _didn’t_ expect Jun to enter the dorms ten minutes after he had just left. “He wasn’t home.” Jun imformed.

          Wonwoo looked up from his magazine over to his friend, “You can try later if you want.”

          Jun had a strange look on his face, “I don’t know. Minghao left a note on his door and everything.”

           “Did it say why he was gone?” Wonwoo asked.

          Jun shook his head. “He doesn’t usually leave a note.”

          Wonwoo shrugged, “Maybe he’s out with one of his friends.”

           “At this time of night? On a school night?” Jun asked doubtingly.

          “What time is it?”

          “11:27.”

          Wonwoo's eyes widened, “Already? I should be asleep. _You_ should be asleep.”

          “So should Minghao.” Jun added.

          “I’m sure he's fine.” Wonwoo persuaded, “He's probably just late night grocery shopping. Maybe he had to go out and get something. Who knows? You'll see him tomorrow.” Wonwoo said, thought now he had become curious about Minghao's whereabouts.

          Jun nodded, but still looked unsure.

          Wonwoo was about to ask Jun why he looked so anxious, but a knock on the door cut him off. Jun went to get it, and Wonwoo stood up from his chair.

          “Oh, hi, Jeonghan,” Jun greeted.

          The angel stood at their doorway with a pout and explained, “I’ve been sex-iled.”

          Wonwoo laughed. _Wow that sucks_. But he didn't say that out loud, Jeonghan said it for him. “Yeah, I know, it sucks. Can i crash at your place? Cheol’s dorm is all the way across campus and it’s like 11:30 and I’m tired. Speaking of which, why aren’t you guys asleep?”

          “That would be because Jun has the only clock in the dorm but won't keep me updated on the time.” Wonwoo replied, earning only a shrug from Jun.

          “Don’t you have a phone?” Jeonghan pointed out, “You can check the time on that.”

          Wonwoo didn't have a comeback, so he muttered a sarcastic, “No one asked for your input.” The angel had a proud smile on his face, knowing he won.

          Jun stepped aside to let Jeonghan in, saying, “You can sleep on the couch for tonight.”

           Jeonghan looked like he was going to collapse from relief, “Thank you so much!”

          “Who’s your roommate, anyways?” Jun asked.

          “Mingyu.” The angel replied.

          Something in the back of Wonwoo's mind nagged at him. This piece of information was somehow important.  

          Mingyu was having sex with someone.

          Minghao wasn’t home.

          Wonwoo looked over at his friend, and by the way his eyes had widened and how his face had suddenly become even paler than it usually was, Wonwoo knew Jun had figured out the same thing he had.

          Minghao was with Mingyu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: Jihoon is singing Simple when Soonyoung confesses because Simple is AMAZING
> 
> Like I watched him sing it (on YouTube) and I was like yep THAT'S MAH BIAS


	11. Kinda like Shi-Horrible

**Friday**

 

    “Woah, you look…” Vernon ran his gaze up and down Minghao, “kinda like shi- horrible.” Minghao scowled at him, but Vernon only laughed and said, “We’re at the point in our everlasting friendship where I can be frank with you and your dim witted nut of a brain.” _No swearing._ If Vernon could go without swearing for a month, Minghao owed him $20.

    “Ah, save it Hansol.” Minghao grumbled. He’d woken up at 5:00 this morning to get back to his dorms and get ready for school. Although he didn’t usually take 2 hours to get ready, he’d taken time to shower as well as sit and do nothing this morning. His hands hovered over his phone as he stared at the blank ceiling when he lay on his bed, wondering if he should text Jun. But there was nothing he had to tell the vampire, so he didn’t.

    “Only my parents call me that.” Vernon complained.

    “Well I’m older, so I have the privilege to.” Minghao rebuked.

    “ _Everyone_ is older than me.” Vernon had skipped fourth grade way back in elementary school, causing him to be a year younger than everyone in his grade. The only other people who were born in the same year as him were Dino and Seungkwan, and they often hung out together during school. “And,” Vernon added, “You’re not even _that_ much older than me.”

    Minghao shrugged, “A couple months is still a couple months.” The two had been in the same elementary and middle school, but became close friends in high school. Now they were the only two people from their high school who had gotten into the same college. Minghao had know Vernon before he’d known Woozi, Wonwoo, or Jun.

    Back in elementary, Minghao had always known Vernon as Hansol. He still brought the name up every now and then the mess with his friend. “I’m just kidding,” Vernon said, “You don’t look _that_ bad. Rough night?”

    It was the wrong choice of words for Vernon to use, because when Minghao thought back to the previous night a blush formed on his cheeks. Anger and embarrassment. The pink color did not go unnoticed by Vernon (seriously, the guy was a detective. Minghao gave up trying to hide anything from him). “Rough night…” Vernon said again, “With Mingyu?”

    “Nothing happened,” Minghao said immediately, “I swear it.”

    “If I didn’t know you two were mates, I would’ve thought Mingyu was hitting on Wonwoo. The two were practically flirting the whole time during the recording session yesterday.”

    “Oh yeah,” Minghao remembered Mingyu had been talking to him about that project, he still wanted to listen to the song they made. “Mingyu was telling me about that.”

    “You don’t even like Mingyu, do you?” Vernon asked. Again, the boy read into Minghao perfectly. _How_ did Vernon even figure it out? Granted, Minghao didn’t try to hide his feelings towards Mingyu, but still. “I thought the Wonwoo thing would make you jealous.” Vernon added.

    “No,” Minghao protested, “I do, I _do_ , but-“

    Suddenly a large slam cut him off. Jihoon stood at his locker and gave it a good whack, sending it closed. “Good morning, Jihoon.” Vernon greeted.

    “Ah, our little beacon in the dark. How are ya?” Minghao added.

    “Fuck off.” The fae replied. Jihoon wasn’t the kind to hide his emotions, his negative emotions, at least. And then he turned to Minghao and said, “Better yet, fuck Mingyu, motherfucking tree he is.” But Jihoon said it without any real bite.

    “Funny you should mention…” Vernon smirked. Minghao hit him.

    “Owwww.” Vernon groaned.

    “You deserved it.” Minghao replied.

    Then _Jihoon_ smirked, “Wait, _did_ you fuck Mingyu?”

    Jihoon rarely made observations, it was usually Vernon doing all the detective work. How did they _both_ know he had been with Mingyu last night? “How did you _guess_.”

    Jihoon tapped a spot on his neck, “You have a hickey.”

    “That bastard.” Minghao swore, and zipped is jacket all the way up to conceal his neck. Had he been walking with that mark exposed all morning? “Is it hidden now?” He asked.

     “Yeah, but it looks really unnatural for you to be wearing your jacket like that.” Jihoon replied.

     “ _Nothing_ happened last night, just for the record.” Minghao vowed.

    “Is it because you like Jun?” Vernon asked innocently. Minghao hadn’t expected Vernon to say that, hadn’t even expected anyone to even guess.

    Minghao felt exposed. It _felt_ like time stopped for a second, or maybe it was just Minghao internally breaking down. There it was. “Fuck you, Hansol.”

    Vernon held his hands up in surrender, “I’m sorry okay. I didn’t know until just now. I mean, I kinda guessed but then after Mingyu I wasn’t so sure, but _now_ I’m sure. You hid it very well, so props to you.”

    “Wait, you like Jun?” Jihoon asked for clarification. The fae looked very lost.

    Minghao groaned and mumbled, “No.” But the fae already had his answer. Minghao wasn’t _mad_ that Hansol had figured it out, he just hadn’t expected it. Minghao knew he could trust Hansol and Jihoon, but those words weren’t meant for anybody else. If the secret had stayed with him and _only_ with him, it would die with him.

    “What about you?” Vernon asked, turning to Jihoon. “What happened to you yesterday?”

    Jihoon frowned, “Fuck you, Vernon.” Something was clearly going on with Jihoon, even Minghao knew that, but only Vernon could tell what it was, and it clearly bothered the fae.

    Wonwoo appeared next to him and muttered, “Language.”

    “Where’s Jun?” Minghao asked, because the vampire was usually always by Wonwoo.

    Wonwoo was about to reply but he turned and saw Minghao, and had the strangest look on his face Minghao couldn’t decipher. “Why are you wearing your jacket so high up?”

    Minghao frowned and simply said, “It’s cold.”

    The bell for first period rang.

 

.   . .

 

    Minghao sat by Jun in dance class. Soonyoung was talking, but neither of them were listening. Instead, Jun turned to stare at Minghao.

    “What?” Minghao asked, the vampire’s gaze making him uncomfortable. Minghao had caught Jun staring at him before, they both stared at each other a lot, but Jun had never looked at him like _this_ before.

    “Why are you wearing your jacket like that?” Jun asked. His eyes didn’t meet Minghao’s, and Minghao couldn’t read his expression. He wouldn’t have been able to read Jun’s expression anyways.

    Minghao gave Jun the same answer he gave Wonwoo, “It’s cold.”

    Jun traced shapes with his finger on the ground. “I went to look for you last night.”

    Soonyoung’s voice was loud, but Minghao couldn’t hear what he was saying. He heard what Jun said. Did Jun know where he was last night? That was impossible, right? “I was… out. I left a note, though.”

    “You never leave notes.” Jun still wasn’t looking at him. Minghao wasn’t sure if he wanted Jun to look at him.

    “Well Vernon’s been coming over for the past few days, and always asks about Dino, so I thought I’d leave a note.” Minghao replied. Jun didn’t respond, but neither did he ask about _where_ Minghao had been.

    Jun usually wouldn’t stop asking questions until he got his answers. He was persistent like that. The fact that Jun just _stopped_ made Minghao worried.

    “Minghao, take your jacket off.” Soonyoung said, and rubbed his hands together, “Your gonna get really hot after this class.”

    The class groaned, but Minghao merely rolled his eyes.

    “Because…” Soonyoung grinned, “The jackets are here!” The class burst into conversation as Soonyoung carried a clothing rack in. There were blazers and umbrellas for anyone. It was just a rehearsal, so they didn’t have to get into the full costume.

    However they did have to wear the blazers, because it was incorporated in part of their choreography.

    Minghao had to take off his jacket.

    “Hey,” Jun said, turning to Minghao, but when he saw the werewolf, the words he were about say died away. The vampire’s eyes immediately darted to the dark spot on Minghao’s neck.

    “Yeah?” Minghao asked, trying to pretend like everything was okay.

    Jun’s eyes went back to Minghao, but didn’t meet his eyes. Jun swallowed and took a few shallow breaths. “Do you want me to get your umbrella for you?” Jun asked. Minghao nodded, and he left, swallowed by the crowd.

   

**.   . .**

   

    _Lunch is an awkward affair_ , Jihoon decided.

    Wonwoo and Mingyu weren’t talking.

    Jun didn’t sit next to Minghao.

    Vernon’s eyes darted between Minghao and Mingyu.

    At least Minghao had ditched the ridiculous jacket, but the dark spot on his neck was exposed. Mingyu kept staring at it. Jun kept on _not_ staring at it.

    The only thing normal about this lunch was that Soonyoung was talking to him as if nothing had happened yesterday. Namely, it was Jihoon’s fault. He’d tried to go for normalcy first.

    “The coats and umbrellas for choreography came, today.” Soonyoung said. Soonyoung didn’t care if Jihoon didn’t reply. Jihoon wondered if Soonyoung still cared about him at all, or if yesterday was just a dream.

    He hoped it wasn't.

    Then why didn’t he acknowledge it?

    Jihoon would never admit it to anyone else, but he was scared. He was scared of how Soonyoung made him feel, how only Soonyoung could make him smile the way he did, and how Soonyoung would look at him like he was the only thing that mattered.

    Jihoon knew Soonyoung liked him, but he was scared.

   

**.   . .**

 

    Minghao came up to Jun after school at the gates, where Jun had been waiting for him, and said, “Hey, do you wanna go feed ducks? After school.”

     Before Minghao had come, Jun had been pacing. He’d been pacing in a closed circle, hoping it would never open. Jun thought about MingMing, and then he thought about Minghao. Jun stared at Minghao’s face. _I can’t love him. “_ I can’t, I have… I have a date.” He said. He’d considered lying, he truly had. But it wasn’t fair for Minghao to have to be lied to.

     Friday was _their_ day. That never changed. No matter how many girls or boys or teachers or homework was in their lives, Friday was their time to spend together.

     Minghao’s smile dropped, “With _who_?”

     “MingMing.” Jun replied. But the name didn’t matter. MingMing’s name felt heavy on his tongue. He didn’t have to say his name. “He’s another vampire. We’re going to-“

     Minghao held up his hand, “No, I don’t wanna know the details.” Jun shut up.

     Jun’s mind completely blanked as he saw the light die out of Minghao’s eyes. He was dumb and wanted to save it, so he said, “You can come if you want.”

     The werewolf laughed but without any emotion. “That’s _really_ dumb.” _Jun knew that_. Minghao hesitated, “You have fun, okay?” And then Minghao walked away. Jun’s stared after him, but Minghao didn’t turn back.

 

**.   . .**

 

    Wonwoo was prepared to make his way towards the dorms by himself. On his way out, he saw Jun and Minghao talking, but then both of them went their separate ways.

    Jun had a date today.

    Suengcheol’s parents were still at the cafe, so Wonwoo didn’t have to go in.

    He started to leave when a voice called out, “Wonwoo!”

    Wonwoo watched as Mingyu ran up beside him. “Are you going back to the dorms?” The other werewolf asked.

    “Yeah.”

     “I thought you had a job.” Wonwoo wondered when he had told Mingyu about his job, but then remembered the first time they had met was when he was working at the cafe. “I do, but Seungcheol let me off today because his parents are here. At the cafe, that is. His parents own it, and when they visit all the employees get the day off because his parents work in place of them.”

     “That's nice.” Mingyu nodded, “Let's walk together then.”

     The two made small talk, and Wonwoo said, “At least there’s no school tomorrow and we don’t have to get up so early.

     Mingyu agreed, “I barely got any sleep last night.”

     Wonwoo winced. Yeah, Mingyu and MInghao were together last night. Wonwoo didn’t like thinking about that very much. He told himself he was jealous for Jun’s sake, not that _he_ was jealous.

     Wonwoo coughed, “So, you and Minghao… Last night…”

     Mingyu turned to Wonwoo, surprised. “Did he tell you?”

     “Nah, Jeonghan had to crash at our place last night, so he told us.” Wonwoo replied, rubbing at his neck. Why did he even bring it up? It’s not like he wanted to know the details.

     “It wasn't- nothing happened.” Mingyu explained, “I mean, we started to… you know, and I thought we were going to, but Minghao wasn't ready, I guess. He stopped it, so after that I kinda just cooked for him and we talked the rest of the night.”

     “Oh.” _Oh_ , Wonwoo denied that the happy sensation in his chest was not for anyone but Jun, and certainly not himself.

     Jun would be really happy to hear that.

     “Yeah…”

     “So,” Wonwoo said, trying to change the topic from anything _other_ than Mingyu’s late night activities, “What’s it like having a mate.”

     “I don’t know.” Mingyu replied, “It’s like I feel tied to Minghao. That’s how love is, I guess.” That didn’t sound like love to Wonwoo, but he wasn’t really in a place to judge, but… _I guess._

     Wonwoo turned to Mingyu, surprised, “You’ve never been in love?”

     “Not before.” Mingyu blushed. And Wonwoo turned to look at Mingyu and thought that there couldn’t possibly be anything cuter than what was standing before him right now.

     It still didn’t mean Wonwoo could ever dream of liking Mingyu, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m gonna be away for a month so I can’t update...  
> But I am NOT abandoning this story there’s still a WHOLE LOTTA ANGST and we still gotta resolve Junhao, Meanie, and Soonhoon :))))))))))))))) hahahaaaaaaaaaaa


	12. He Didn’t Want To Dance Around It

Jun made his way to Serenity, but his mind had wandered so far away that he nearly ran into a street pole. Luckily, no one was around to see.

Just a second later, Seungcheol appeared at the entrance and opened the glass doors to Serenity. “Oh, hi! Jun, right?” Seungcheol asked. Jun was relatively surprised that Seungcheol knew his name, since Jun had barely remembered his. But then again, Jun had always been bad with names. When they’d first met, Jun had mistaken Minghao for a different Minghao, who didn’t even look like this Minghao. It was confusing.

“Yeah. Hey, Seungcheol.” Jun greeted.

Seungcheol ushered Jun into the cafe, and greeted two people working behind the counter whom Jun assumed were Seungcheol’s parents. “So,” Seungcheol started, turning to Jun, “What can I get for you?”

“Oh, I, uh, have a… date,” Jun didn’t know why he found that word so hard to say, “with MingMing.”

Seungcheol nodded, “Cool. I think he likes you.”

Jun found this funny, he didn’t know why. “I should hope so.”

“Oh, I mean, like, actually I don’t know what I mean…”

Jun smiled, “Nah, it’s cool.”

“You know it’s weird… Minghao met Mingyu here too.” Seungcheol said.

Jun felt a pang in his chest, but looked towards Seungcheol and shrugged. “Guess this is just the place where couples like to meet.”

Seungcheol had a wide smile on his face and muttered, “Take that, Diamond Cafe.”

Jun glanced down at his phone for the time. 2:39.

The vampire frowned as Seungcheol asked, “So, what time did you plan to meet up?”

“2:30.” Jun replied. He didn’t know whether he was disappointed or relieved that MingMing might not show up. If he was going to, then he was already almost 10 minutes late. This was one of the rare cases in which Jun was early. Minghao was always 5 minutes early, and would scold Jun for being 2 minutes late. He smiled at the thought, but then stopped when he remembered he was supposed to be waiting for a date.

Seungcheol’s eyes widened, “Wait, but MingMing told me he had a lecture that starts at 2:45.”

Jun tried his very best to keep the hope out of his voice, “Really? Well then I guess he might not show up.” He felt like he could finally breathe now that he no longer had to see someone. He hadn’t even realized he felt so stressed about this date.

At that moment, the door burst open. It was MingMing.

“Junhui? I’m really sorry.” The other vampire said, sounding out of breath.

Jun stood there, not knowing how to feel. “Uh, Seungcheol told me you had a lecture?”

“Yeah. I’m _so_ sorry. I forgot about the lecture when we scheduled the date, because you were distracting me and I was so eager… I’m sorry.”

Jun forced a smile to his face. “It’s okay, I understand. Um…” He was unsure of how to continue or what to say. “Do you want to try again? Next week?”

MingMing smirked, “Are you asking me out?”

Jun rolled his eyes. “That’s not how it works.”

MingMing nodded, “Same time next week.” And then neither of them said anything. Jun didn’t look at the other vampire, but he could feel MingMing’s eyes on him. MingMing’s gaze made his skin crawl, made him feel almost as if he was exposed- not in the way Minghao sometimes made him feel, as if all his lies could be seen through by Minghao’s clear eyes, but as if MingMing was raking his gaze over Jun’s bare body. Then the other vampire averted his gaze down to his watch, his eyes widening. “Oh shit I’m late.” The other vampire, despite his haste, winked at Jun and said, “See you.”

“You too.” Jun replied, not really paying attention to what he was saying anymore.

 

**.   . .**

 

Mingyu waved goodbye to Wonwoo and headed off to his own dorms. He often had his dorm to himself as Jeonghan was always over at Seungcheol’s dorm. Mingyu wondered who Seungcheol’s roommate was.

Mingyu’s original plan for the day had been to just rest at the dorms, and at the time had declined all invitations to outings, but now he was bored. He had been tempted to invite Wonwoo over after their conversation, but Wonwoo had gone the other direction before Mingyu could’ve said anything.

He sat on the couch to watch tv but not 5 minutes later did he hear a knock on the door.

Groaning, he got up to answer it.

He could already smell his mate’s scent before opening the door to let Minghao in.

“Minghao? Why are you-“ Mingyu started, but was cut off as the other werewolf shoved Mingyu back by the shoulders and started kissing him.

It was times like this when logic flew out the door. He had just enough coherent thought left to shut the door before he melted into Minghao, taking the other werewolf by the waist.

“Why are you here?” Mingyu asked between breaths, even though he didn’t even really want to know. Minghao was there, in his arms, what else was there to know?

“I want to go all the way today.” Minghao replied, and shut him up with another kiss. Mingyu wanted to know what Minghao tasted like, what he sounded like. The two werewolves stumbled over to a bed, and Mingyu wasn’t really sure if it was his or Jeonghan’s bed.

The angel would be pissed if he found out that Mingyu was going to have sex on his bed, but then again, Mingyu had once detected Seungcheol’s scent on his own bed. It was faint, and he didn’t bother mentioning it.

Each kiss wiped Mingyu’s thoughts away and he didn’t care anymore. All he cared about right now was Minghao.

But something was wrong.

He pulled away and tried to meet Minghao’s eyes, but the other werewolf had turned his head away and wasn’t looking at Mingyu. “Are you okay?” Mingyu asked.

Minghao pulled Mingyu into another kiss and mouthed against his lips, “I’m fine.”

It took all of Mingyu’s self control to push Minghao away. Pushing his mate away was almost as if he was defying Fait. It was as if he were stranded in the middle of the desert and denying water he was being offered. But he did it anyways.

“Hey, look at me.” Mingyu said.

And when Minghao did finally look up at Mingyu, he noticed that there were tears glistening in the other werewolves eyes. “I thought this was what you wanted.” Minghao said.

 _It was_. “Why do you cry everytime we kiss?”

Minghao stiffened in his arms, “I do _not_.”

Mingyu chuckled at the other werewolf’s stubbornness. Minghao wasn’t crying, he just had tears in his eyes, and if one of those tears were to fall, Mingyu would have wiped it away. “What happened today? Why today?”

“I’ve been unfair to you.” Minghao replied, “You’re so _godamn_ nice and patient with me, and all I do is push you away. I was being selfish. So I thought today…”

“Why today?” Mingyu asked. This was what he really wanted to know. He disregarded the fact that Minghao said he was doing this to make him happy, because he couldn’t be happy with this if Minghao wasn’t happy with it. And of all days, _why today?_

“It’s nothing.” Minghao said, absentmindedly brushing his fingers through Mingyu’s hair.

But Mingyu was no longer affected by this anymore. Something was hurting his mate, and that was all that could affect him. “Bullshit.” Mingyu sighed. He didn’t want to force the information out of Minghao, but that was bullshit. “Why today?”

Minghao didn’t reply for a while, didn’t say anything. His jaws were clamped shut, but Mingyu saw the internal conflict brewing behind his mate’s eyes. And when Minghao finally did respond, his voice jarred Mingyu into rolling away to sit beside Minghao, instead of lying on top of him. “Jun has a date today.” Minghao said.

And when Minghao said this Mingyu was glad he had rolled out of his mate’s line of site. That way Minghao couldn’t see the hurt in his eyes. “You love him.”

Mingyu thinks he’s already figured this out long ago, back to when they had first met. Yet he had denied it, because there was no way his mate could love anyone else. He had thought mates were destined to be with each other, and that they did not love anyone else. But Minghao did.

Minghao, upon hearing Mingyu’s words, abruptly sat up, “No I…” Then his mate paused. Mingyu didn’t know what his mate was thinking, but he knew that Minghao couldn’t lie to him anymore. “I’m sorry.”

 _It’s okay_ , Mingyu wanted to say, although it wasn’t. Minghao had nothing to be sorry for, yet the apology hung in the air, Mingyu neither accepting or denying it. Instead he said, “It’s not your fault.”

“I didn’t want to love him. I swear it.” Minghao whispered.

Mingyu shook his head and said, “What does it feel like? To love someone?”

Minghao groaned, “Terrible.” Neither of them could see the other’s expression, and they kept it that way. “He makes me _whole_. I like being with him yet everytime I see him I get this dumb feeling inside my chest, and he doesn’t even know.”

“What does it feel like to be around me?” Mingyu asked.

“It feels like… Like your heart can bear the weight of mine, when you’re around. I like being with you, Mingyu.”

“Just not like that.” Mingyu finished for him.

Minghao nodded even though Mingyu couldn’t see him do it. “Just not like that.”

They lay in silence before Mingyu said, “I think we should break up.”

Minghao huffed a breath of laughter, “I don’t think mates are allowed to do that.”

When Mingyu didn’t reply, Minghao said, “Give me some time to get over him. I can love you, one day I can.” The other sounded so determined, and Mingyu wanted so badly to believe that was true.

Mingyu shook his head and held back both tears and laughter, “I don’t think that’s how love works.”

“I can try.” Minghao replied, although both of them knew that they could never truly love each other.

At that moment, Mingyu remembered his conversation with Wonwoo. “You should tell him. Jun, I mean, about your feelings.” If Mingyu couldn’t have his mate, then at least Mingyu could see Minghao happy. Anyone could see that Jun loved Minghao. It was apparent to Mingyu even when he had been blinded by his own want for Minghao. And now that the fog was gone, Mingyu could see that Minghao loved Jun too.

Minghao only scoffed and said, “I think… I think I should go.”

Then Mingyu remembered that Jun was on a date with someone else right now. Both werewolves got up and Mingyu escorted Minghao to the door. “Tell him about your feelings,” Mingyu advised as Minghao walked out. He found it hard to look at his mate now, knowing that he could never have him. Instead, Mingyu fixed his gaze on the purple mark he had left on Minghao’s neck the night before, which was already beginning to fade. And yet Mingyu couldn’t bring himself to regret his decision to let Minghao go. “Even if he doesn’t love you,” _which he does,_ but Mingyu didn’t say that. He thinks it’d be better if Minghao heard that from Jun himself, “At least you’ve tried.”

Minghao nodded. “Mingyu?” He said, and Mingyu looked up to find his mate looking directly at him for the first time. This time, there weren’t tears in the other male’s eyes. “Thank you.”

And then Mingyu watched as Minghao walked away.

 

.   . .

 

Mingyu sat silent for an hour after Minghao left, because he knew that if he did manage to talk tears would follow right after. He’d tried calling Soonyoung, but the boy didn’t pick up and Mingyu had to leave a voicemail. He’d gotten to “Hi” before he did start crying, then deleted the voicemail.

_He lost his mate._

He lost his mate and he didn’t even tell his parents that he’d gotten one.

Mingyu figures it could’ve been worse- he and Minghao could’ve had a relationship, could’ve gotten a married, and could’ve grown old together all while Mingyu would never find out that his mate was miserable. That would’ve been worse.

And so Mingyu didn’t regret his decision.

 

.   . .

 

Jun knew Wonwoo cared about him, he really did, but that was the problem. He didn’t think Wonwoo would believe him if he said that the he couldn’t love anyone else but Minghao.

But that was set in stone. He couldn’t.

Jun knew that if it didn’t work out with MingMing, Wonwoo would sympathize and try to find someone else for him, but that would never work. Nothing would ever work. And that was why Wonwoo needed to believe that he had a good time with MingMing. Jun needed to convince everyone that he liked MingMing. Maybe once he’s convinced everyone, he himself would come to like the other vampire as well.

Maybe when everyone else believed his feelings, his own true feelings wouldn’t matter. Maybe in the future, his love for Minghao wouldn’t matter.

So when Jun arrived at the dorms an hour later and Wonwoo asked, “How was the date?”

Jun said, “He was really nice.” Which wasn’t exactly a lie. “I asked him out on another date next week!” Which also wasn’t a lie. Maybe the excitement part was, but the statement wasn’t.

“Wait, _really_?” Wonwoo asked, and Jun had to laugh at the way Wonwoo’s eyes were bulging out of their sockets.

“Do you not believe in me?”

“No, it’s just, Jesus, it’s amazing…” Wonwoo said, and it hurt to see how happy he was at Jun’s fake happiness.

Jun shrugged, “He had to leave early for a lecture, and I just thought, you know, why not? I think… I think I like him.” That was a blatant lie. Jun figures he might be good at lying because lying was just the same as acting. He had acted in commercials as a kid, and then in school plays, dramas, and musicals.

“Dude, invite him over.” Wonwoo suggested.

Jun frowned.

Wonwoo laughed, “Okay, not like _that_. If you guys freaking have sex in here, Wen Junhui, I will…”

Jun laughed and put his hands up in defense, “Hey you said it. And no, I will not invite him over.”

“Wait what?” Wonwoo exclaimed, “But I wanna meet him!”

“He’s _so_ flirtatious.” Jun said.

“Hm, flirtatious enough to charm you. Also you can’t talk, you always flirt around.” Wonwoo replied.

“Only with…” _Minghao. “_ Okay, wait, I do _not_.”

Jun saw realization dawn behind his best friend’s eyes, and wished desperately to change the subject. Luckily, Wonwoo did. “You always make dumb puns.”

“I do _not_.” Jun replied, the same answer to a different statement. “The only puns I make are good ones.”

Wonwoo rolled his eyes, “Yeah, whatever.” Jun heard a small notification bell ring off from Wonwoo’s phone. The alpha werewolf took his phone out of his pocket and frowned down at the screen.

“What’s up?” Jun asked at Wonwoo’s addled expression.

Wonwoo continued to frown and read the text messages appearing on his screen before responding, “I’m going to the park… I think?”

Jun frowned. What could’ve gotten Wonwoo so confused. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” Wonwoo replied, and Jun thought that was as much as he was going to say. But it wasn’t because then Wonwoo asked, “Hey, do you think it would be weird if you had just known someone for less than half a year but then you come to really like them?”

“Uh…” Jun was thrown off by Wonwoo’s question. “No.”

“Okay, and what if that person asked you to meet them at the park. Would you go?”

Now Jun was _really_ confound, “For _my_ sake, just go to the park. Who asked you?”

“Mingyu.” Wonwoo replied.

Jun looked down before Wonwoo could see the expression change in his eyes at the mention of Minghao’s mate. “Huh, that’s weird. Since when did you like him so much?”

Wonwoo glared at Jun, and the vampire put his hands up in defense, “Okay, he’s nice, and that came out wrong.”

“Yeah, he’s nice.” Wonwoo agreed.

Jun tilted his head, “Do you like him?”

It was as if the question was being thrown like a baseball, and Wonwoo sidestepped the question, “He’s my friend.”

“ _Sure_.”

Wonwoo groaned, “Whatever, I’m going to the park.”

 

.   . .

 

Mingyu needed to talk to _someone_ , and Soonyoung was mute. Mingyu couldn’t get the boy to answer his calls or respond to his texts.

After failed attempts to contact Soonyoung, he’d decided to walk to the park, which was a bad idea since the park was his favorite place and he’d wanted to take Minghao here, but now he couldn’t.

It was a while before a voice behind him said, “Are you deep in thought? Existential crisis?”

The voice had become surprisingly familiar and comforting to Mingyu over the past week, and he turned to Wonwoo and said, “I broke up with Minghao.”

He didn’t want to dance around it, he needed to tell someone, and so he did. Wonwoo was the first person he told.

Mingyu watched as the other’s expression turned from a joking smile to a small frown. He didn’t like seeing the sympathy dawn in Wonwoo’s eyes. “I thought he was your mate.”

“Is.” Mingyu corrected. “He is my mate. But I guess he just didn’t love me. I… I decided that we shouldn’t be… together, like that.” He found the words after the confession much harder to speak out loud. He let out a breathy laugh without any real feeling, “Oh, uh, actually, Minghao likes Jun.”

Wonwoo came to sit next to Mingyu on the park bench, and to his surprise, Mingyu felt Wonwoo’s body pressed up against his and an arm wrap around his shoulders. Mingyu leaned into the other werewolf’s warmth. “I’m sorry.”

And if it had been anyone else, Mingyu would’ve rejected the sympathy, because he knew other people didn’t really care what happened to I’m. But he wanted to believe Wonwoo cared. “I think I like you.” Mingyu said, though his words were muffled because he had pressed his face into the fabric of Wonwoo’s jacket.

“What?” Wonwoo asked.

Mingyu turned so that his words were no longer muffled, but his head was still propped on the other werewolf’s shoulder. “I said that at least Minghao and Jun can be together, you know?”

Wonwoo suddenly tensed up, “Did you tell Minghao that Jun liked him?”

“No, I thought Jun should tell him himself.” Mingyu looked up questioningly, “Why?”

“Jun likes MingMing now.” Wonwoo blurted.

“Oh.” Mingyu felt an overwhelming sense of sadness for Minghao. After all that and Jun had gone and fallen for someone else.

“Does it feel like you broke up with him for nothing?” Wonwoo asked tentatively.

Mingyu shook his head. He’d already decided this before and he was going to stick with his decision again and again. “No. It doesn’t matter who Minghao loves, because we can never properly love each other. It just wouldn’t work.”

He didn’t know when he had suddenly started crying, but he knew that the fabric of Wonwoo’s jacket was starting to grow wet with his tears.

At first, Mingyu couldn’t even hear what Wonwoo was saying, but he knew Wonwoo was saying _something_ because he felt the vibration of his voice. Wonwoo was singing a familiar tune, and soon, Mingyu hummed along. He liked Wonwoo’s singing a lot.

When the song ended, Mingyu sat up to properly face Wonwoo and said, “I think I like you.”

His brain wasn’t thinking clearly.

He was blinded by grief.

He didn’t know what he was saying.

He liked Wonwoo. _A lot_.

Mingyu watched Wonwoo’s expression change. Wonwoo looked down and tilted his head away, “Don’t say that.”

“I do like you.” Mingyu didn’t know what he was saying anymore. It’s as if his emotions had been held back with a gate, and now that he knew that Minghao didn’t love him, that he didn’t really love Minghao, his real, true emotions were flooding out without check. “I like it when you rap and when you sing. I like your voice.” Mingyu paused and Wonwoo was still turned away. “I like you.”

It was as if the sudden emotions drained him, and Mingyu rested his head against Wonwoo shoulder again.

They sat like that for a while until Mingyu felt warm fingers take hold of his chin, tilting his head up so he was looking directly into Wonwoo’s eyes. Mingyu almost missed the kiss Wonwoo had pressed against his lips. It was very brief and very soft, and Mingyu barely had time to register what was going on before Wonwoo pulled away. “You don’t know what you’re feeling.” He said.

“You don’t know what I’m feeling either.” Mingyu argued.

“Mingyu,” it seemed that Wonwoo was struggling to get his next words out, “You just broke up with your mate. I know you’re sad, but if you say that, you’re hurting me too.”

Mingyu peered up at the other werewolf, “Is it because you like me too?”

“I… _ugh_ .” Wonwoo groaned and stood up from the bench, covering his face, which was disappointing since Mingyu liked his face very much. After a while Wonwoo sat back down next to Mingyu and ran a hand through his hair. “ _No,_ we are not doing this right now.”

“So you don’t like me?” Mingyu asked, and he felt his heart sink inside his chest.

“No, I didn’t say that.”

Mingyu had never seen Wonwoo seen conflicted. The other werewolf was always seemed composed, and Mingyu liked discovering these new pieces of Wonwoo. Sometimes Mingyu thought he was liking Wonwoo a little more each day. He smiled a little, and the expression had felt almost foreign. “So you do?”

Wonwoo shook his head and laughed. Mingyu hadn’t expected it, but he liked hearing the sound. “Ask me out on a date.” Wonwoo said.

The question surprised Mingyu, but he obliged. “Do you want to go out on a date?”

“Next week.” Wonwoo added.

“Next week.” Mingyu finished, and waited to see what the other werewolf would say next.

“Next week, when you have all your emotions sorted out, ask me about my feelings for you again.”

“So you actually want to go on a date with me?” Mingyu asked, eyes widening. “But I’m a mess.” It felt like Mingyu was baring the raw side of himself out to Wonwoo, and Mingyu was surprised that after seeing that side of him Wonwoo would still like him. If Wonwoo had lever liked him in the first place, that is.

“Which is why we’re doing this next week. If by next week you’ve decided that this was dumb, that you actually don’t like me, we can cancel it.”

Mingyu shook his head and smiled for the second time that day. “That’s not going to happen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I left this fic for a few weeks and came back to reread it and... woah I have a lot to fix. BUT I gotta finish writing before I can go back and edit. Updates are gonna be a lot slower because at first I was just kind of pumping out chapters. Thanks for everyone who’s read this far, this is my first mulitipchaptered fic!


	13. His Role As A Friend

* * *

**Saturday**

 

Minghao woke up feeling lighter than he had felt in a while. Although it was nice being around Mingyu, it had always felt as if he was being tied down; trapped.

Yesterday’s events came rushing back at him, and he opened up his phone to text Mingyu: _Did you tell anyone about what happened yesterday?_

Knowing his mate, Mingyu was probably still asleep.

But Minghao felt so very _alive_ today, and he needed to do something. The weight of his feelings for Jun still bore down on him, but he had always been used to the feeling. 

He wanted to get rid of it.

But he couldn’t.

He wanted to see Jun. He opened up his phone yet again and texted the vampire: _I’m bored._

The reply came almost immediately: _What does this have to do with me?_

_Not everything is about u, egotistic blobfish_

_But a great majority of things are, my prickly friend_

    Minghao rolled his eyes at Jun’s response: _ur dumb_

_Meet me at the park in ten min_

_K_

Sometimes Minghao thought that he couldn't bear the weight of his feelings much longer- that one day instead of saying “Hi” he'd say “I don't wanna be just your friend”.

He  _didn’t want to_ bear the weight of his feelings for the vampire much longer.

Yet he couldn’t lose his friendship with Jun.

And Jun was interested in some guy named MingMing.

In his role as a friend, Minghao knew he should’ve asked Jun how his date went, yet he couldn’t bring himself to. Maybe that was why they could never be just friends.

 

.   . .

 

Mingyu’s heart did a little flip when he saw Minghao’s text, only to remember that they weren’t together anymore. Strangely, the fact didn’t hurt as much as it did yesterday, though it still aches like an old bruise.

He tried the words out loud, “I’m not in love with Minghao.” The words hung in the still air of his room. He felt like he could breathe again.

His eyes widened as he read Minghao’s text message. _Did you tell anyone about what happened yesterday?_ Did Minghao not want him to tell anyone?

He hastily pulled up Wonwoo’s number and called the other alpha. Often he would prefer texting over calling, and he wasn’t sure why he had suddenly decided to press the little phone icon. Maybe it was an accident. 

“ _Hello?_ ” The voice rang clear on the other line. Wonwoo’s voice sounded deeper in the morning. If calling was an accident, he certainly didn’t regret it.

 “Hey, um, can you not tell anyone that Minghao and I broke up yesterday? I think Minghao wants to tell Jun himself.” Mingyu said.

“ _Oh yeah, I didn’t tell him yet. Okay._ ”

Mingyu didn’t know what to say next but he didn’t want to hang up. “Oh, and good morning by the way.”

He heard a small groan, “Ugh, mornings are never good.”

Mingyu laughed. Wonwoo’s voice had soothed over any feelings of hurt that Mingyu had felt about losing his mate, and he didn’t even notice when the pain had disappeared as he smiled and continued to listen to Wonwoo’s voice over the phone.

 

.   . .

 

Minghao was not being mugged, he was being bombarded by his idiot friend from behind who thought “hi” wasn’t enthusiastic enough for a greeting.

He ignored the way the people who walked by the park gave them strange looks, and wrestled out of Jun’s grasp, “You’re late.”

Jun pouted, “I’m two minutes early!”

Minghao ignored the way Jun’s cute pout made his heart beat faster and said, “Fucking liar.”

Jun laughed, his breath heavier than usual, “Next time just don’t be 5 minutes early. Then _I_ can be early.”

“You’re never early.”

“I would be early for you.” Minghao scrunched up his nose. “But you won’t let me!”

Minghao felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and took it out to read the text he had gotten from his mate.

“Who is it?” Jun asked.

“Mingyu.” (With his eyes fixated on the text, he had missed the way Jun’s expression fell at the name of Minghao’s mate.)

Mingyu’s reply was: _I only told Wonwoo_

Minghao frowned down at the screen. He wondered when Mingyu and Wonwoo had suddenly become so close, but he also realized that if Mingyu had told Wonwoo, then Wonwoo must’ve told Jun.

Wonwoo and Jun told each other everything. Minghao had once told Wonwoo about how he got full score on a chemistry test, and before he could relay the good news on to the vampire, the vampire had already known and congratulated him. At the time it had been convenient, but now Jun already knew that he and Mingyu had broken up.

Then why didn’t Jun acknowledge it? For the same reason that he didn’t acknowledge Jun’s date? But Minghao knew he didn’t want to acknowledge any of this, and was perfectly content with the way they were now.

“Did you eat yet?” He asked the vampire, looking up from his phone.

Jun immediately perked up now that Minghao’s attention was on him, “No.”

It was already past noon and Minghao frowned, “Aren’t you hungry?”

“I’m a vampire.” Jun replied. Minghao was well aware that vampires ate for pleasure and not fulfillment, but he also knew that Jun liked food.

“Idiot.” Minghao mumbled, walking off with the vampire following close behind.

“Are _you_ hungry?”

“No, but I know you are.” They wandered around for something to eat until Minghao felt Jun’s hand grip his arm as he stumbled over a crack on the sidewalk. Even though the vampire had only touched his arm, he could feel it throughout his whole body.

“Are you okay?”

Jun smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, fine.”

And then Minghao asked, “When was the last time you had blood?” Because although vampires didn’t necessarily need food, they needed blood.

“Sometime last week.” The vampire replied nonchalantly.

“Did you have any this week?”

Jun didn’t reply, and he was already overthinking this “yes”or “no”question long enough for Minghao to have already figured out the answer.

“This is the longest you’ve gone without it!” Minghao nearly shouted.

“Do you know how hard it is to find blood around here?”

“You should know!”

“MingMing told me that I can order it from this website,” Jun shrugged. “But the shipment doesn’t arrive until Tuesday.”

Minghao ignored the way the name of Jun’s date brought up a surge of jealousy and regarded the vampire before him warily, “You can’t last that long.”

“I can too.” Jun defended.

“Your senses are already shutting down.”

“They are _not_.” At the look Minghao gave him, Jun sighed and amended his statement to, “I only tripped, that doesn’t mean anything.”

But Minghao didn't trust him. “Do you know where to find MingMing? Maybe he has blood on him.” Jun shook his head and then Minghao asked, “When’s the next time your going to see him?”

Jun hesitated before answering. “Next Friday.” And Minghao refrained from saying _You have another date with him?_

Instead, he said, “Come on. There’s gotta be someone with a blood supply around here.”

He ignored it when Jun said, “Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?” as he led the way.

It was the little things throughout the day that made Minghao worried, like when they ended up at Serenity, only to find out the cafe had run out of blood, and Jun had clutched his head in pain. Sometimes when they walked the vampire would abruptly stop and take a few long breaths before continuing.

The fifth time the elder stopped, Minghao pulled him into an alley and said, “Okay stop, I know you're hurting. You need blood.”

“Minghao I’m _fine_ , I have until- ah _fuck_.” The vampire fell down to his knees, wrapping his arms around his body.

“ _Jun._ ” Minghao got down to help him.

“Fuck, it hurts.” The vampire gasped. _Idiot._

 _“_ Look, just take my blood, okay?” Minghao hadn't been thinking when he said it, but he wasn't going to take back the offer.

“ _No_.”

Slowly, Minghao helped Jun stand up, although he was now mostly relying on the support the werewolf provided. Jun felt himself go faint again, and the two stumbled back against the wall.

“ _Jun_.” Minghao said, his tone now threatening, “Take my blood.”

“I could hurt you.” Jun whispered.

If the situation weren’t so dire, Minghao would’ve laughed. How could Jun be scared of hurting him when he was the one watching his friend suffer?

“I know,” Minghao said, “And I’m not scared.” He bared his neck out to prove it.

“But I am.” Jun replied.

Minghao was now acutely aware of how their bodies were pressed up against one another, and how Jun’s body was achingly hot. The vampire’s eyes flitted over to his bare neck.

His heart raced.

 _“_ Your hickey is gone.” Jun stated, his words now slightly slurred.

“Oh my god.” The fact had seemed so insignificant to Minghao, and he had almost no idea what Jun was talking about. “Does that even matter?”

“Last Thursday…” Jun continued talking, and Minghao was almost certain that the lack of blood in the vampire’s veins had drained his thought process as well. “Did you and Mingyu really…?”

Minghao frowned. _Last Thursday?..._ Oh. _Oh_. Jun had known where he’d been that night. With Mingyu.

He remembered that night clearly because of the way his mate could've claimed him- _should’ve_ claimed him- yet it was thoughts of the vampire that stopped them. “No Jun,” Minghao found himself saying, “I couldn’t do it. Not with him.”

Jun nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer, but Minghao didn't let himself be affected by this. The vampire wasn't thinking properly, that was all. Jun gasped again. _Fuck_.

“ _Bite me_.” Minghao said.

And Jun did.

 

.   . .

 

 _Not with him_.

Jun could barely form a coherent thought, and hearing those words, knowing that Minghao had not yet been claimed by his mate, set him off.

He knew he shouldn't.

He'd never bitten anyone before.

He shouldn't.

Vampires never acquired their blood from humans or supernatural beings, and Jun was well aware that when vampires did bite others, it was often a romantic interest.

But Minghao was his friend.

His friend that he had fallen in love with.

 _And so he did_.

 

.   . .

 

 _Idiot_.

Namely, Jun was the idiot who didn't monitor his blood supply, which consequently led them to this situation. But Minghao was the idiot for enjoying it.

At first there was pain- bright, sharp pain. But then the pain faded to a dull ache and Minghao could _think_.

He could think about Jun's teeth in his neck and the vampire's lips against the skin around it. He could think about how Jun's hands were around his waist, pulling him closer against him.

He could think about how later he would regret this. He would regret letting himself be this close to Jun. He would regret arching his body up against Jun's so that he could _feel_ Jun. He regretted falling in love with Jun, calling Jun his friend, regretted _Jun_.

Pain subsided to pleasure and Minghao let a tiny moan escape his mouth. Jun bit deeper, harder.

Suddenly the vampire jerked away, the force of the sudden speed slamming Jun against the opposite wall of the alley. Minghao felt cold in all the places Jun was, and now wasn't.

He slumped to the ground feeling drained and gasping for air.

Jun rushed to where Minghao was on the ground and took the werewolf in his arms. “I'm sorry.” Jun whispered, and Minghao couldn't tell if he was crying or not. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…” Jun chanted over and over again like a lullaby.

Minghao stroked Jun's hair. “It's okay, you didn't hurt me.” Minghao held Jun's face so that he was looking directly at him. “You see? I'm fine, you didn't hurt me.” _Not physically_.

Minghao could feel Jun's entire body shaking. “It's okay.” He whispered again.

Jun shifted so that their foreheads were now pressed against each other, and he didn't know what he was doing. Minghao saw Jun's eyes flick down to his lips.

 

.   . .

 

Neither the werewolf or the vampire were aware of the boy who had accidentally stumbled upon the scene in the alley.

The boy wished he'd never seen it, as his heart, which had already been torn apart earlier that week, broke again for his friend.


End file.
